Broadcaster Jeremy Clarkson has described Brexit as “an ocean-going pain in the arse.”
He said it’s helped the UK’s COVID-19 vaccine rollout but is “idiotic” in every other respect.
The former Top Gear and current Who Wants To Be A Millionaire presenter was speaking ahead of the premiere of his latest show.
Clarkson’s Farm follows the presenter's efforts to run his own farm in the Cotswolds in southern England.
He bought the farm in 2008, but it was run by somebody else until recently.
The documentary series looks at the ‘hard graft' of farming, as the 61-year-old TV presenter learns about the tough reality of raising animals and growing food.
The whole process was hit by a number of challenges, including a historically wet planting season and the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020.
Mr Clarkson told The Hard Shoulder he “couldn’t have picked a worse year” to start farming, but suggested the drama at least made for some good television.
However, taking up farming means he has also experienced first-hand the impact of the UK’s exit from the EU.
He explained: “I’ve decided to grow a new type of wheat this year, which likes hotter, dryer climates… and was stuck in the whole planting season in Calais, and we couldn’t get it into the country because of some bureaucracy that now has to be done.
“Brexit is an ocean-going pain in the arse. It’s worked very well for our vaccine rollout… but in every other respect, it’s just idiotic. But we’ve got it, and have got to live with it.”
Clarkson's Farm is available on Amazon Prime Video from tomorrow, July 11th.
