Jeremy Clarkson has weighed in on the row over Treasury minister Emma Reynolds's claim that employers are not "working people", backing small business owners who say the remark insulted them.

The Chief Secretary to the Treasury made the comment during an interview with GB News presenter Camilla Tominey on Sunday 1 November, when she was pressed on whether the Autumn Budget had broken Labour's manifesto promise not to raise taxes on working people. Chancellor John Healey delivered the Budget on Wednesday 28 October, raising tax on income from property and savings by a further two percentage points from April 2027.

"Well, firstly, let me say I don't think employers are working people; they are companies," Ms Reynolds told Tominey. She added that the manifesto had promised not to increase the headline rate of income tax, VAT or national insurance for employees, and that none of those had risen.

Small business owners hit back

The remark drew criticism from business owners and opposition politicians. Lancashire pie shop owner Paul Bowen, whose business Tominey cited in the interview, said the minister had insulted small business owners across Britain, pointing to rising inflation, national insurance and minimum wage costs. Reform UK Treasury spokesman Robert Jenrick said: "Tell that to the millions of small business owners who employ people. Labour haven't a clue about business."

Ms Reynolds later clarified her position in the House of Commons on Tuesday 3 November, telling MPs she wanted to "correct the record". She said: "Of course the brilliant men and women across the country who run small businesses are working people." The clarification followed criticism from pub operators and other small firms, who had warned that Budget measures, including inflation-linked alcohol duty rises from February and higher wage costs, were squeezing their businesses.

Budget row continues

Defending the wider Budget package, Ms Reynolds said the government had made "a very conscious decision" for tax increases to be targeted and fair, pointing to a higher corporation tax on banks to pay for a £100 energy support package for families in council tax bands A to D, VAT taken off electricity for a further three months, and an extended fuel duty cut. She also said the government had offered business rates relief to tens of thousands of small businesses.

The row has kept the definition of "working people" at the centre of the Budget debate, with ministers insisting the manifesto pledge covered headline income tax, VAT and national insurance for employees, while critics argue landlords, savers and employers are working people too.