The Reform UK leader has issued a stern statement in response to the Chancellor scrapping farmer’s inheritance tax relief.
Nigel Farage has blasted Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer for “declaring war on small family farms”. The MP says “inheritance tax raid will destroy rural communities” in a scathing seven-word warning to the Labour party.
Uproar from farming communities has followed Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget on Wednesday last week – she announced a change to tax rules for rural workers which could break up thousands of small family farms.
From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will have to pay inheritance tax at 20%.
The £1m cap does not just account for the value of land, but also livestock, farmhouses, sheds and machinery. Country Land and Business Association predict that over 70,000 farms could be impacted.
The Clacton MP took to social media platform X with a video of him visiting a local farm to speak to a third-generation farmer set to be majorly impacted by Reeves’ new budget.
Farage said: “So I’ve just arrived at a 300-acre family farm. It’s in its third generation. It’s got 2 or 3 houses, outbuildings, etc..
“The Budget has been just the most massive shock for the farmer here, James Martin.
“In a moment I’m going to chat to him and he’s in, I have to say, in a pretty distressed state.”
He continues: “The big shock in the budget was inheritance tax on farmland, farmland handed down through the generations.
“Elon Musk overnight coming out hard, saying to the Labour Government ‘don’t do this. Leave British farmers alone’.”
He asked Martin: “James, this is a family farm. So you finish up with a situation when you inherit, what will you have to do?”
Martin responded: “I don’t know, well, obviously I’ll have to get some sort of advice from someone.
“Not that you can actually speak to anyone at the minute, because I imagine phone lines are pretty busy at the moment, but obviously something I need to look into.
“I’ve done a sort of rough estimate for myself. Probably just have to stop, to be honest, just so I can keep a roof over the heads and stuff.”
Farmers who are asset-rich but cash-poor will be affected the most as they will have little scope to pay the new tax bill which means when the land owner dies, families will have to sell either land or machinery to cover the bill.
This could cause thousands of small family agricultural businesses to be broken up, in turn damaging the UK farming industry and worsening food security.
The new major change has sparked an angry backlash from rural communities across the UK. As well as Farage, celebrities such as Jeremy Clarkson argue that farmers “have been shafted”.
TV presenter Kirstie Allsopp has said the chancellor had “destroyed the ability [for farmers] to pass farms on to their children”.