Markus Andrews

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom 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.CloseRead moreThe government’s announcement of changes to inheritance tax, which will see a 20 per cent levy imposed on inherited agricultural assets worth over £1 million starting from April 2026, has ignited widespread debate. While Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer insists that “the vast majority of farms and farmers” will remain unaffected by the changes, many in the farming community are unconvinced.Critics, including the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), warn that this policy could jeopardise family farms, which make up approximately two-thirds of Britain’s agricultural base. NFU president Tom Bradshaw and other prominent voices argue that the tax hike may lead to long-term consequences for food production, rural economies, and the sustainability of family farming.Sir Keir has defended the measure, noting that £5 billion has been committed to the farming budget over the next two years, and that exemptions could allow farm-owning couples to pass on up to £3 million without paying any inheritance tax. As thousands prepare to march in protest on Tuesday, with farmers’ children leading the demonstration on toy tractors and celebrities like Jeremy Clarkson lending their support, the debate remains heated. Some believe the policy is a necessary step to balance public finances and support essential services, while others see it as a threat to the agricultural heritage and food security of the UK.Now we want to know what you think. Is the ‘tractor tax’ a fair approach to reform inheritance tax, or does it risk dismantling the fabric of family farming?Share your thoughts in the comments — we’ll highlight the best responses as they come in.All you have to do is sign up and register your details — then you can take part in the discussion. You can also sign up by clicking ‘log in’ on the top right-hand corner of the screen. More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom 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.CloseRead moreThe UK is set to relaunch trade talks with India at the start of next year, as Sir Keir Starmer said he wanted to take Britain’s relationship with Delhi to “another level”.Following a meeting with Indian prime minister Narendra Modi at the G20 summit, Sir Keir said he was “very ambitious” in terms of securing a “new strategic partnership, not only on trade, but “on energy and on so many issues, including security”.The prime minister has said that a deal between the world’s fifth and sixth largest economies would help support jobs in the UK, with a trading relationship with India worth £42bn in the 12 months to June 2024, according to Downing Street.As it was confirmed that trade talks would restart in early 2025, Sir Keir said: “Boosting economic growth is key to improving living standards for working people.“A new trade deal with India will support jobs and prosperity in the UK – and represent a step forward in our mission to deliver growth and opportunity across our country.”Discussions between New Delhi and London over a trade deal had stalled under the last government. While Boris Johnson had previously said he wanted a deal done by October 2022 to coincide with Diwali, Rishi Sunak’s administration had declined to set a target date for signing off on an agreement.When the negotiation began in January 2022, the aim had been to double trade between the UK and India to £86bn by 2030.By 2028, India is projected to be the world’s third largest economy. India was the UK’s 11th largest trading partner in the most recent financial year, accounting for 2.4 per cent of total UK trade, according to the UK government.Keir Starmer attended the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro on Monday More

Your support helps us to tell the storyFrom 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.CloseRead moreSir Keir Starmer is under fresh pressure over Brexit as a petition calling for Britain to rejoin the EU racks up tens of thousands of signatures.MPs will almost certainly debate the call in the Commons after 36,000 voters signed the petition in just three weeks. With 100,000 signatures a petition is considered for debate in parliament, although the government must respond to it after 10,000 signatures.The petition calls for the UK to “apply to join the EU as full members as soon as possible”, which its creator and ardent Remainer Robert McMaster said will “boost the economy, increase global influence, improve collaboration and provide stability and freedom”.Keir Starmer is sticking with pledges made during Opposition, ruling out a return to the single market or customs union More

Louise Haigh defends Labour’s budget measures after farmer tax protestYour support helps us to tell the storyFrom 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.CloseRead moreFarmers 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 taxDowning 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.”Andy Gregory19 November 2024 02:00Letters | For born farmers like us it’s not about the value of the land, it’s about the legacyIn 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.Andy Gregory19 November 2024 01:00Confusion over how many farms will be hit by controversial tractor taxConfusion 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:Andy Gregory19 November 2024 00:01Where 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.PA18 November 2024 23:01Farmers warn 75% of British food production will be hit by Reeves’s tax raidRachel 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.Andy Gregory18 November 2024 22:02Watch: Farmer accuses Starmer of ‘fleeing like a rat to London hideout’ after tax protestFarmer accuses Starmer of ‘fleeing like a rat to London hideout’ after tax protestAndy Gregory18 November 2024 21:04Farm 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:Andy Gregory18 November 2024 20:10Editorial | Rachel Reeves’s flawed inheritance tax for farmers demands a rethinkAfter 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:Andy Gregory18 November 2024 19:15Minister says food shortage plan in place as farmers threaten strike action over taxA 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:Andy Gregory18 November 2024 18:22Why 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.PA18 November 2024 17:31 More