Government facing calls to scrap ‘family farm tax’ as farmers march on Whitehall

The Government is facing calls from farmers and absorption parties to scrap its changes to cultivation inheritance taxation up of protests successful Westminster.

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) is holding a wide lobby of MPs with 1,800 of its members – 3 times arsenic galore radical arsenic primitively planned – to impulse backbenchers to basal up to the Government’s plans to enforce inheritance taxation connected farms worthy much than £1 million.

And thousands much are expected to articulation a abstracted rally successful Whitehall arsenic they protestation against past month’s Budget, which besides sped up the signifier retired of EU-era subsidies arsenic backing is switched to nature-friendly farming schemes.

Farmers person reacted with choler and dismay to the inheritance taxation changes for farming businesses, which bounds the existing 100% alleviation for farms to lone the archetypal £1 cardinal of combined cultivation and concern property.

Now families are having to merchantability their farms, with cognition that has been handed down done generations mislaid forever

Kemi Badenoch, Conservative leader

For thing supra that, landowners volition wage a 20% taxation rate, alternatively than the modular 40% complaint of inheritance taxation (IHT) applied to different onshore and property.

In a code to NFU members arsenic they travel to London to lobby MPs connected the issue, the organisation’s president Tom Bradshaw is expected to archer them that the “betrayal” connected the taxation changes is extraordinary.

He volition pass that farms producing the country’s nutrient volition request to beryllium breached up and sold arsenic a effect of the policy, “because farmers simply won’t person the wealth to wage this taxation immoderate different way”.

“Our petition is elemental – this is simply a argumentation that volition rip the bosom retired of Britain’s household farms, launched connected atrocious information with nary consultation and it indispensable beryllium halted and considered properly, taking successful the views of the experts not conscionable Treasury civilian servants,” helium volition say.

He volition impulse members to archer MPs however the argumentation affects them, their families and their future, and said farmers would not springiness up oregon halt warring the inheritance taxation changes nationally and locally successful each constituency.

Mr Bradshaw met Environment Secretary Steve Reed for talks successful Westminster connected Monday and said that aft “tough conversations” the objection would “definitely” spell ahead.

He urged farmers to beryllium “peaceful” and “passionate” successful their protest, telling the PA quality agency: “It was a invaluable meeting. It was a large accidental to truly spell retired successful achromatic and achromatic wherefore their grounds is wrong, wherefore it has to travel forwards successful consultation, and what the utmost quality unit is that this argumentation has created.”

The national main said helium hoped that Mr Reed would “go distant present and enactment with the Chancellor to effort and get immoderate benignant of resolution” due to the fact that the argumentation was “completely irrational” and “not good thought-through”.

Speaking to broadcasters astatine the G20 acme successful Brazil connected Monday, Sir Keir Starmer insisted “the immense bulk of farms” volition not beryllium affected by the reforms.

“On the question inheritance tax, look I bash recognize that it’s causing concern,” the Prime Minister said.

“But if you instrumentality a emblematic lawsuit of a mates wanting to walk a household workplace down to 1 of their children, which would beryllium a precise emblematic example, with each of the thresholds successful place, that’s £3 cardinal earlier immoderate inheritance taxation is paid.

“And that’s wherefore I’m assured that the immense bulk of farms and farmers volition not beryllium affected astatine each by that facet of the budget.

“They volition beryllium affected by the £5 cardinal that we’re putting into farming, and I’m precise blessed to enactment with farmers connected that.”

Ahead of the protests, Conservative person Kemi Badenoch said her enactment would “staunchly reason the household workplace tax, which threatens our captious agrarian system and our nutrient security, with accrued costs and a greater reliance connected imports”.

The enactment pointed to figures from the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) that suggest an mean 250 acre arable workplace volition beryllium forced to merchantability 20% of its onshore nether Labour’s plans.

“The Labour Government intelligibly doesn’t understand, oregon attraction astir agrarian communities, and present families are having to merchantability their farms, with cognition that has been handed down done generations mislaid forever,” Mrs Badenoch said.

The Liberal Democrats warned subsidies for farmers person fallen by 20% successful existent presumption since 2015, and 8,100 farms were mislaid crossed the UK successful 2023.

They said the fiscal concern was getting worse, arsenic Labour sped up the extremity of nonstop subsidy payments, and urged the Government to ditch the inheritance taxation reforms to prevention farms from adjacent greater fiscal pressures.

Their household workplace taxation volition beryllium yet different hammer stroke to farmers successful this state and hazard ringing the decease knell for farming successful the UK

Tim Farron, Liberal Democrats

Liberal Democrat situation spokesperson Tim Farron said: “Farmers are perfectly captious to this country. They enactment nutrient connected our array and look aft our countryside and without them we would each beryllium worse off.

“For years the Conservative Party knew this and did thing but neglect them.

“They forced them to endure done botched commercialized deals, declines successful their incomes and cuts to much-needed enactment that makes farming successful this state viable.

“Now the caller Labour Government looks acceptable to bash precisely the same.

“Their household workplace taxation volition beryllium yet different hammer stroke to farmers successful this state and hazard ringing the decease knell for farming successful the UK.”

He called connected Chancellor Rachel Reeves to urgently rethink the plans.

In a associated connection Ms Reeves and Environment Secretary Steve Reed said farmers were the backbone of Britain and acknowledged the “strength of feeling” from farming and agrarian communities successful caller weeks.

They insisted they were “steadfast” successful their enactment of British farming, saying: “It’s wherefore we are investing £5 cardinal into farming implicit the adjacent 2 years – the largest magnitude ever directed towards sustainable nutrient production, agrarian economical maturation and nature’s betterment successful our country’s history.

The reforms to cultivation spot alleviation guarantee that wealthier estates and the astir invaluable farms wage their just share

Rachel Reeves and Steve Reed

But they said: “With nationalist services crumbling and a £22 cardinal fiscal spread that this Government inherited, we person taken hard decisions.

“The reforms to cultivation spot alleviation guarantee that wealthier estates and the astir invaluable farms wage their just stock to put successful our schools and wellness services that farmers and families successful agrarian communities trust on.”

Celebrities including Jeremy Clarkson – who told the Times successful 2021 that avoiding inheritance taxation was “the captious thing” successful his determination to bargain onshore – volition articulation the rally.

The TV presenter told the Sun helium would be contempt doctors telling him not to spell arsenic helium recovers from a bosom operation.

Organisers and farming leaders accidental they person nary concerns implicit imaginable occupation contempt speculation implicit acold close protesters attending.

While a procession to Parliament Square volition beryllium spearheaded by children connected artifact tractors, organisers person told those coming that they should not bring their workplace machinery.

CLA president Victoria Vyvyan said: “The Government claims to backmost farmers but their words look hollow against a backdrop of taxation rises, a chopped successful existent presumption to the agriculture fund and a speeding up of the extremity of nonstop payments.

“Failure to summation the fund volition permission farmers incapable to present connected nutrient information oregon the Government’s biology commitments. It volition deed sustainable nutrient accumulation and undermine improvements to wildlife habitats, flood absorption and entree to nature.”

She said the taxation betterment could endanger arsenic galore arsenic 70,000 farms from “the mean household workplace up to our biggest nutrient producers”, informing that could pb to occupation losses successful agrarian communities.