LONDON: Thousands of farmers protested at UK’s parliament on Tuesday, some driving tractors through central London, to demand the scrapping of an inheritance tax that they say will destroy family farms and threaten food production.
The measure, dubbed the tractor tax by critics and announced in the new government’s budget last month as it sought to raise funds, has drawn an angry backlash from farmers who say the ruling Labour Party does not understand rural communities.
The protesters held placards stating “no farmers, no food, no future” and “Starmer the farmer harmer”, in reference to Prime Minister Keir Starmer. Police estimated about 10,000 protesters took part.
Farmer Emma Robinson, 44, said she was “absolutely livid” and would take part in measures to disrupt food supplies if the government did not back down.
Robinson said her farm in northwest England had been in her family for 500 years and she was going to pass it on to her children.
“It’s being taken out of my hands by someone that’s been in parliament for literally days,” she said.
Under the policy set out by finance minister Rachel Reeves, people inheriting a farm worth more than 1 million pounds ($1.3 million) would have to pay 20% inheritance tax from 2026. The passing of farms down generations was earlier tax-free.
Farmers say that while their land and machinery has a high value, the farms themselves have low profit margins, meaning their children would have to sell land to cover the tax bill.
Jeremy Clarkson, the former Top Gear presenter, was among those demonstrating and said his message for government was: “Please back down”.
The government has said the reforms would only target the most valuable farms while helping fund public services that farming communities rely on.
It said the tax change would affect about 500 farms a year, with the tax rate for those paying set at half the usual rate of 40% and payable in instalments over 10 years. But farmers say the numbers affected will be much higher.
“There are a lot of figures flying around that I do not recognise. The vast majority of farmers will pay no more,” Environment Minister Steve Reed said.
The backlash is only one part of a wider opposition to the Labour government’s first budget since it won an election in July, with businesses warning Reeves’ other tax-raising measures will fuel inflation.
Farmers say they are already suffering from unfair competition as cheaper imported produce does not have to meet the same environmental and welfare standards, while their incomes have also been squeezed by supermarkets and hit by climate change.
($1 = 0.7923 pounds)
