Farmers to step up pressure over 'family farm tax' at Yorkshire landmarks on Day of Unity
Farmers gathering today for a National Day of Unity to pile pressure on the government to halt its controversial family farm tax said they would highlight their plight beside some of Yorkshire’s most recognisable landmarks.
The NFU said while events were being staged from the Shetlands to Cornwall, it represented a “chance for counties to do what’s best for them” and to demonstrate visual support for the #StopTheFamilyFarmTax campaign, while providing an opportunity for the public to show their support.
Although some Yorkshire farmers said they would be too busy lambing to organise events, a ‘talk to the producers’ rally with tractors parked outside the 11th century Selby Abbey, will be staged from 10am to 1pm, while a tractor run is set to start north of the Humber Bridge at noon.
Farmers from across the region said they would continue to protest until the proposed tax was subject to consultation and thorough scrutiny.
The events follow tractor protests outside supermarkets in Bridlington, York, Thirsk, Selby, Northallerton and Ripon last Friday and a senior executive from Bradford-based supermarket chain Morrisons stating the firm was supporting farmers.
However, earlier this week Morrisons took out an injunction following 'unlawful protests' by farmers earlier this month which saw one of its depots blocked by tractors.
The order prohibits anyone from entering or remaining on parts of the retailer’s land without consent and creating or causing blockades, obstructions of traffic and or preventing staff from accessing the building.
Ahead of the Humber Bridge event, organiser Stephen Ridsdale, whose family farm at Bielby, near Market Weighton includes barley and maize, said the bridge had been chosen as it would make a striking image and that a number of the region’s Labour MPs had been invited to attend to receive a hamper of British produce and discuss the tax.
He said: “We’d love to fill the Humber Bridge with tractors, but we don’t know how many are going to come. When we protested at Beverley a couple of weeks back about 50 registered and 90 turned up. We’d rather be staying at home at not having to bother with this, but it’s so problematic for us. If we just got a decent price for our produce we’d be able to pay the tax.”
Mr Ridsdale family farms faced a tax that would bear no resemblance to the productive value of their land while being squeezed on price by supermarkets.
He said: "As a family we’re really caught because they’ve just suddenly introduced the tax and Keir Starmer’s words are that it’s ‘fair and ‘balanced’ because you only pay 20 per cent and have ten years to pay it. But if you’re 60 years old, gift things away live for seven years and you don’t pay inheritance tax. I’ve got an 82-year-old dad. The big injustice here is the rules aren’t fair in that respect.
"You talk to people and they say ‘I’m pleased my dad died last year’. That’s the sort of conversations you have and what a horrible situation to be in.”
Earlier this week in the House of Commons Conservative shadow Treasury minister James Wild accused Rachel Reeves of being a “tin-eared Chancellor” over the tax plans.
When asked if she would speak to farmers, ahead of the National Day of Unity, the Chancellor replied Labour had inherited a £22 billion black hole in the public finances. She added £5 billion had been announced for the farming budget over two years, including the largest funding directed at sustainable food production and nature recovery.
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