Farmers have slammed Sir Keir Starmer for suggesting the public face a choice between better living standards or wanting them to keep their inheritance tax break.
The Prime Minister was forced to leave a visit to a housing development in Buckinghamshire on Thursday because of a mass protest by farmers against Rachel Reeves’s changes.
He insisted the Budget had to stabilise the UK’s finances with “tough but right decisions” on National Insurance contributions for businesses and ending the inheritance tax break for farmers.
Sir Keir added: “These are political choices, but what you can’t have is interest rates coming down, the growth we need in the economy, your waiting lists coming down, and maintain the tax break for farmers.
“People watching this will understand that that is a choice. They will know what they would prefer.
“Do they want their waiting lists to come down, do they want their mortgages to come down, the economy to start working for everyone?
“That is what we are trying to achieve.
“Or do we want to give tax breaks for farmers? We can’t have both.”
The Chancellor announced in October that from April 2026, combined agricultural and business property assets up to £1million will still receive 100% relief but anything above that will be taxed at an effective rate of 20%.
The Daily Express’s Save Britain’s Family Farms crusade has demanded a U-turn.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, of the Countryside Alliance, said: “However miffed the PM may be by a couple of horns going off during a presser, this response is disingenuous.
“No one seriously believes the disastrous family farm tax has anything to do with helping get NHS waiting list times down.
“Please don’t pit people against each other.”