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The general secretary of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has hinted that more extreme action could be taken if the government does not backtrack on its plan to extend inheritance tax to agricultural properties.
Asked “what happens next” following Tuesday’s planned events – which has seen an estimated 20,000 people descend on Westminster to urge the government to backtrack on the levy – Tom Bradshaw said: “I think you’ll have all seen the media reports about what farmers across the United Kingdom think they should be doing next.”
It comes as farmers have threatened the government with “militant action” over the policy, which they argue will cause food shortages and the breakup of family farms.
First unveiled in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s October Budget, the plans to impose the duty 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 ball is in the government’s court”, Mr Bradshaw warned. “They have to be the ones that now decide how they react to this.”
Speaking to journalists at the NFU’s mass lobby event in Westminster, which saw union members lobby around 150 members of parliament, he added: “I don’t want any of our customers any of our consumers not able to get the food they desperately need. But I also understand why emotions are running so high.
“I’ve never seen an industry that’s been betrayed the way this one is today. The anger, the mistrust, the disillusionment, the worry – how is that what this policy was designed to deliver?”
But Oliver Atkinson, a farmer from Hampshire, suggested that even Mr Bradshaw would not go far enough to force the government’s hand on the issue.
He told The Independent there is a feeling among the agricultural community that the NFU chief needs to take a tougher approach in his talks with ministers, and be more supportive of protests and demonstrations.
Mr Atkinson said he expects further regional action to be taken following on from today’s protest if the government doesn’t backtrack.
Tom Morphew, from Full Circle Farms in Sussex, told The Independent he has come to London for the protest “to stand up for the next generation of farmers”, adding: “If this carries on there won’t be a next generation of farmers”.
“It’s not just about the tax, it’s about food”, he warned. “That’s what all these people here do, produce food. If we can’t do it, we’re going to rely on food from Peru, Spain or Portugal – and when they have a flood or a war, we won’t get the food. It will go to their people first and we’ll be stuffed and food prices will soar”.
Asked why farmers should be exempt from inheritance tax, Mr Morphew explained: “If I inherit a farm, I’ve now got to pay 20 per cent inheritance tax on that, which means I’ve got to sell the farm.”
“Yes, I could go off and have a lovely house after I’ve paid all the bills and tried to sell the machinery and things. But then what do I do for a living? I’m a farmer.
“If someone else inherits a house, they’re going to pay inheritance tax at 40 per cent – but they’ve already got a house and they’ve already got a job.”
In a joint statement with environment secretary Steve Reed on Monday, chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the policy, insisting the government had taken difficult decisions to fix gaps in the public finances.
“The reforms to agricultural property relief ensure that wealthier estates and the most valuable farms pay their fair share to invest in our schools and health services that farmers and families in rural communities rely on,” she said.
Mr Reed met with Mr Bradshaw on Monday evening ahead of the protest. However, the government did not line anyone up to attend the mass lobby of MPs on Tuesday morning.
Treasury data shows that around three-quarters of farmers will pay nothing in inheritance tax as a result of the controversial changes.
But farmers have challenged the figures, pointing instead to data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), which suggests 66 per cent of farm businesses are worth more than the £1m threshold at which inheritance tax will now need to be paid.
Defra has been contacted for comment.
