John McTernan claims 'we don't need the small farmers'
A former Labour bigwig sparked widespread fury last night after using a GB News interview to call for the destruction of small family farms in Britain.
John McTernan, who served as Tony Blair’s political secretary, made the outrageous comments while defending Rachel Reeves’ inheritance tax hike, which Jeremy Clarkson is warning will “kill farming”.
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Appearing on the channel, Mr McTernan called for Labour to “do to the farmers what Thatcher did to the miners”.
In a bizarre rant, he explained: “I’m personally in favour - if the farmers want to go on the streets - we can do to them what Margaret Thatcher did to the miners”.
An astonished Patrick Christys clarified: “So just to be clear, John, you would what? Beat them up?”
READ MORE: Keir Starmer defends Labour's tax changes on farms after furious backlash
John McTernan calls for the death of small farms in Britain (Image: GB News)
An unemotional McTearnan doubled down: “It’s an industry we can do without”.
“If people are so upset that they want to go on the streets and spread slurry then we don’t need small farmers.”
The comments quickly sparked outrage on social media, with the Countryside Alliance’s Mo Fisher blasting: “Is he saying the quiet part out loud? Heartless”.
This morning Mr Fisher, the Alliance’s director of external affairs, told the Express: “It’s incredibly concerning to think that there are people out there that get some sort of ideological kick out of wanting to do down farmers and even more shocking that they can get so close to the reins of power”.
“Mr McTernan is however in a minority and farmers and their families know the public object to views like this and support them and all their hard work fully.”
TV presenter Nigel Owens MBE also piled in, asking: “Wow just wow. Who the hell is this clown?”
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John McTernan served at the highest level of Labour's last government (Image: Getty)
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Tory member of the Scottish Parliament Murdo Fraser warned: “Wow. The mask slips, as a former senior Labour advisor tells us what the party really thinks about small farms.”
The No Farmers, No Food campaign group described his rant as a “disgraceful statement”.
While Mr Christy’s himself commented on his interview: “I didn’t press him on it too much because I wanted to let it sit there like there stale fart it is.”
Yesterday Keir Starmer defended Labour’s tax raid on family farms, insisting he wants “to support farmers. I think it’s really important”.
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“Obviously we had to take difficult decisions in the budget because of the blackhole and the circumstances that we inherited.
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“The vast majority of farmers will be unaffected by the changes in the budget not least because if there’s a married couple the relief is ￡3 million and that’s why the vast majority of farmers will not be affected at all.
“They will be affected by the ￡5 million put into the budget on this. It’s very important that we support our farmers. I’ve said that before and I’ll say it again.”
However farming minister Daniel Zeichner accused farmers of overstating the impact of the planned cuts to agricultural property relief.