Farmers across Britain warned Chancellor Rachel Reeves they will not let her “decimate” their futures without a fight as they staged a dramatic show of unity in opposition to her tax plans.
Tractors and livestock arrived in town centres throughout the UK on Saturday as farmers warned of how her plans to hit their families with inheritance tax would be disastrous for British agriculture.
If the Chancellor harboured hopes that rural communities will back down they were quickly dashed.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher of the Countryside Alliance told the Sunday Express: “Farmers and their supporters will not stop fighting back against the damaging family farm tax. The policy is hated by the countryside, businesses and the public, including Labour’s own voters.
“Opposition to this disastrous policy will only continue to grow. If Rachel Reeves wants to avoid a long running battle, she must work with the countryside and rethink this policy urgently.”
NFU president Tom Bradshaw pledged that farmers will not back down.
He told us: “We will keep fighting this awful tax and hopefully, eventually, the Chancellor will listen.”
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith warned the “death tax” would “bankrupt family farms”.
During the week the National Farmers Union delivered a petition with more than 270,000 signatures to Downing Street in a plea to ditch the “devastating family farm tax”.
The embattled Chancellor is preparing for a major speech this coming week on how she plans to restore growth. But some of the most important names in British business have backed the farmers.
Supermarket giant Tesco has called on the Treasury to “pause” the tax plans, warning that the “UK’s future food security is at stake”. Support has also come from major retailers including Marks & Spencer, Lidl and Aldi.
The NFU’s Mr Bradshaw said it was “unheard of” for supermarkets to take such a public stance on a political decision.
The union says more than 100 events were staged at locations including Cambridge, Warwick and Selby in North Yorkshire. Mr Bradshaw said the “national day of unity” was an opportunity to thank the public for their support.
Rachel Hallos, a livestock farmer from the South Pennines who is vice president of the union, said the tax changes would “decimate what we’ve currently got in this country” and were a real source of worry.
Under the Chancellor’s changes, previously exempt inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1million will be hit with 20% inheritance tax.
Her plans for further inheritance tax raids have caused anger far beyond farming communities. She is being urged to abandon plans to slap the “death tax” on pension pots and is under fire for hiking up the interest rate grieving families will face on late payments of inheritance tax.
A Government spokesperson said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast.
“This Government will invest £5 billion into farming over the next two years, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history.
“We are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.
“Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean estates will pay a reduced effective inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than standard 40%, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free.
“This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates a year.”