NFU President says inheritance tax reforms are 'stab in the back' as thousands of farmers protest in London
NFU President Tom Bradshaw has called Labour’s inheritance tax changes “nothing short of a stab in the back” to farmers, as thousands brought Westminster to a standstill in a mass rally.
Tractors circled around Parliament yesterday, with more than 10,000 people estimated to have joined the protest in Whitehall against last month’s Budget.
The NFU also held a mass lobby of MPs, with 1,800 of its members urging backbenchers to stand up to the Government’s plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million.
Yorkshire farmers, who say they are asset rich but cash poor, fear that this will force them to sell off large portions of their land instead of passing it on to the next generation.
Liz Harrison, who owns a 4,000-acre malt barley, winter wheat and pea farm near Kilham, in the East Riding, joined the protest as she said this would “destroy the family farm”.
The 40-year-old said she would be forced to sell off large portions of land under the inheritance tax changes.
Ms Harrison explained: “This tax is a risk to food security in Great Britain and the government are determined not to listen.”
Speaking from the G20 in Brazil, Sir Keir Starmer insisted that the “vast majority” of farms will be “totally unaffected”, however Mr Bradshaw told The Yorkshire Post that new NFU research found 75 per cent of working farmers would be in scope.
Mr Bradshaw became emotional as he spoke to members at the NFU event in nearby Church House, saying he had never seen the industry “this angry, this disillusioned, this upset”.
“This shocking policy, built on bad data and launched with no consultation with anybody that understands,” he said.
“To launch a policy this destructive, without speaking to anyone involved in farming, beggar’s belief.”
Mr Bradshaw described the changes to agricultural property relief as “nothing short of a stab in the back”.
He said: “We know what this means for our families, for our children, for our future.
“We know the horrendous pressure it is putting on the older generation of farmers who have given everything to providing food for this country.
“We know that any tax revenue will be taken from our children and raised from those that die in tragic circumstances, all within the next seven years.”
NFU Vice President Rachel Hallos, who runs a beef and sheep farm in Ripponden, said that the inheritance tax changes could change the community spirit of Yorkshire.
She said: “People will have to make decisions of selling parcels of land off.
“Who’s going to buy them with the return on investment on the land? Is it going to be farmers? I don’t know.
“If you look at Yorkshire, we’re a proud county - we produce every single type of food you can from rhubarb to the best wheat and barley grown in the UK.
“Do we really want to lose that rural community? Do we want to lose those people?
“Do we want to lose that community spirit, farmers going out with tractors to pull people out of ditches in the snow, really?”
Ms Hallos said that Yorkshire “cannot afford to lose that land”, adding that she felt “betrayal” from Labour.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed denied that his party, which has many more MPs in rural areas since the general election, did not understand the countryside.
“This Labour Government has just allocated £5 billion to support sustainable food production in the UK.
“That’s the biggest budget of that kind in our country’s history and it shows that we’re backing farmers,” he said.