Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it’s investigating the financials of Elon Musk’s pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, ‘The A Word’, which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.
Farmers are set to stage large-scale protests in London on Tuesday to urge the government to change course over its inheritance tax plans.
First unveiled in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget, the plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m have sparked fury among rural communities, who have contested the government’s assertion that small family farms will not be impacted by the changes.
The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has organised an event in which 1,800 of its members will meet with local MPs at Westminster to voice their anger on Tuesday, as thousands are also separately expected to stage a demonstration in Whitehall.
Warning of “complete disillusionment and distrust” within the farming community, NFU president Tom Bradshaw – who was meeting with environment secretary Steve Reed on Monday evening – warned: “Farmers are cross, they’re worried, they feel they’ve nothing to lose, I don’t know where this ends.”
The government argues that tax exemptions have led to wealthy non-farmers seizing agricultural land and pricing out genuine young farmers, and point to Budget funding of £5bn to help farmers produce food.
No 10 refuses to be drawn after Elon Musk claims government ‘going full Stalin’ on farming tax
Downing Street has refused to be drawn into a row with Elon Musk, after the tech billionaire described the government as “going full Stalin” in its approach to farmers.
Asked for a response to Mr Musk’s criticisms, Downing Street said it would not “get into a back and forth on individual comments”.
A No 10 spokesperson said: “The responses I gave this morning continue to be the case: that we will continue to engage with the industry and explain how the process works, and it remains the case that we expect the vast majority to be unaffected by the changes.”
They would not be drawn into saying whether the government rejected Mr Musk’s premise, saying: “The prime minister’s own words are very clear in terms of the support that we have for farmers and their importance, and we will continue to communicate how the scheme works to provide that reassurance.”
Letters | For born farmers like us it’s not about the value of the land, it’s about the legacy
In a letter to the editor, Linda Roberts from Culmington, in Shropshire, writes:
A lot of people wouldn’t get out of bed for the money we make. We’re born farmers. It isn’t about the value of the land; it is about legacy. When my Dad died in 2021, he believed that the farm would be passed to the next generation. His reward for a lifetime of hard work and investment would be the opportunity for his grandson and those beyond to continue and build.
In one sweeping statement, the chancellor has robbed my family, and many others, of that opportunity. The government has quoted facts and figures from HMRC but those figures do not show the reality of how family farming works, or the amounts of money involved. The thresholds are simply far too low.
Confusion over how many farms will be hit by controversial tractor tax
Confusion has broken out over how many farms will be affected by Rachel Reeves’ controversial changes to inheritance tax after new figures showed her claims of one in four may be wide of the mark.
Figures produced by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) have been interpreted by farmers’ groups to suggest that up to two thirds (66 per cent) of farms could be hit by the tax grab which critics claim will destroy Britain’s family farms.
This is in stark contrast to the 28 per cent that the Treasury had claimed with officials in the two departments understood to be at loggerheads over the chancellor’s shock announcement. But a source close to environment secretary Steve Reed has blamed the National Farmers Union (NFU) for confusing the issue with incorrect analysis of Defra figures.
Our political editor David Maddox has more in this report:
Where will farming tax row end?
At the moment there seems to be something of an impasse, with Sir Keir Starmer and his ministers sticking to their guns on the issue, and farmers insisting the planned tax changes must be reversed.
Farmers are taking to the streets for a rally, with thousands expected to turn out in Westminster on Tuesday to show their anger at what one of the organisers, Lincolnshire farmer Andrew Ward, described as a “spiteful Budget which threatens the very heart of the countryside”.
He said: “Food production, wildlife and generations that have built a business will suffer, and Labour have to realise just how many people will be affected.”
And ahead of the mass lobby of MPs by the NFU also taking place on Tuesday, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “I don’t believe the government have any choice but to rethink this policy”.
That shows no sign of happening yet, but the impact of Tuesday and any future protests is yet to be seen.
Farmers warn 75% of British food production will be hit by Reeves’s tax raid
Rachel Reeves’inheritance tax raid will hit three quarters of food produced by British farmers, industry chiefs have warned, as the government battles a growing backlash over its extension of death tax.
While the government has insisted that only a minority of farmers will be impacted, Tom Bradshaw, chief executive of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), said around “75 per cent of the total farmed area” would be subject to the extended death tax.
Watch: Farmer accuses Starmer of ‘fleeing like a rat to London hideout’ after tax protest
Farm incomes plummeted by 50% in a year, official figures reveal as fears grow over ‘tractor tax’
Farm incomes plummeted by more than 50 per cent in just one year, official figures show, amid growing fears over the impact of the government’s “tractor tax”.
Average farm business incomes fell from £103,100 in 2022/23 to £45,300 in 2023/24, figures published by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) show.
While the government said the fall in income “followed exceptional highs for some farm types in 2022/23”, in real terms, this is the lowest average farm incomes have been since 2015/16.
Our political correspondent Millie Cooke has the full report:
Editorial | Rachel Reeves’s flawed inheritance tax for farmers demands a rethink
After revealing £40bn of tax rises on business and the better-off in last month’s Budget, Rachel Reeves could – just about – argue that “working people” had not been directly affected.
But anyone in the government who thought her decision to impose inheritance tax on some family farms would be without consequences needs to think again.
It is increasingly obvious that the chancellor was unwise to include farmers on her hit list by announcing that, from April 2026, agricultural estates worth more than £1m will face an effective 20 per cent rate of inheritance tax – half the usual 40 per cent rate.
Read The Independent’s full editorial here:
Minister says food shortage plan in place as farmers threaten strike action over tax
A senior minister has revealed that plans are being put in place to deal with food shortages if farmers go ahead with their threat to strike over the controversial family farm tax.
In an interview with Sir Trevor Phillips on his Sunday morning show on Sky News, transport secretary Louise Haigh said the government would be “setting out” its contingency plans for the winter, as concerns mount over the furious backlash to a decision to apply inheritance tax to farms.
Our political editor David Maddox has more details:
Why do farmers say the changes are a problem?
According to the NFU, while farms may have a high nominal asset value – the value of their land and business assets – the returns from farming are often very low, so farming families may not have the reserves to pay for inheritance tax liabilities without selling off assets.
The NFU’s president Tom Bradshaw said the change had left elderly farmers in the “cruellest predicament”, as they may not live for another seven years to take advantage of exemptions for gifting assets, or to hand over assets in a way that qualifies for the gifting exemption.
He has also warned the changes could undermine investment as farmers will be wary of increasing the balance sheet as they will be liable to pay inheritance tax on it.
There are also concerns that it could affect tenant farmers if landowners no longer benefit from having a tax exemption for farmed land.
Mr Bradshaw said there was a feeling among farmers that the government did not understand food production.
