Panic stations for Labour as ballot exhibits help slumping to post-election low of simply 25% amid Budget farm tax backlash – as 70% of Brits say UK is worse underneath Starmer
Support for Labour has slumped to a new record post-election low amid a backlash over plans to tax farmers, a new poll shows today.
Sir Keir Starmer‘s party is now three points behind the Tories – and just six ahead of Reform – down two on 25% after a week of battles over its plan to make agriculturalists pay a low rate of inheritance tax.
It marks a dramatic fall from its post election high of 39 per cent which gave it an 11-point lead over the Conservatives.
A second poll shows that almost three-quarters of voters now believe the UK has got worse under Sir Keir’s leadership.
The surveys by More in Common were carried out between November 19 and 21, amid the fallout from Tuesday’s protests in Westminster led by TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
Sir Keir Starmer’s party is now three points behind the Tories – and just six ahead of Reform – on 25% after a week of battles over its plan to make agriculturalists pay a low rate of inheritance tax.
The surveys by More in Common were carried out between November 19 and 21, amid the fallout from Tuesday’s protests in Westminster led by TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson.
Last night Environment secretary Steve Reed yesterday claimed to understand the ‘anguish’ caused by his inheritance tax grab on family farms – but refused to apologise.
Mr Reed told a gathering of farmers that the 20 per cent levy was needed to pay for a ‘£22billion black hole’ in public finances left by the previous government.
Farmers say that they will be forced to sell off their holdings to pay the bills.
But the decision to impose the levy on farmers comes as receipts to the government from inheritance tax have hit record levels.
HM Revenue and Customs said that in the past seven months, the Treasury had received inheritance tax worth £5billion – £0.5billion more than this time last year.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw speaks during a National Farmers’ Union (NFU) mass lobby at Church House
Thousands of farmers attended a rally in London on Tuesday venting their anger at what they say will mean family farms will have to be sold off to pay the inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1million.
Asked in a press conference if would apologise for the ‘frustration and anxiety being triggered in elderly farmers – Mr Reed said ‘It’s hard to be sorry for making this country’s economy and public services work again.’
Mr Reed told the conference: ‘I’m not pretending these decisions are easy’.
In a speech, Mr Reed said he was ‘struck’ by how many people described the Budget issues that brought them out onto the streets of London on Tuesday as ‘the final straw’.
‘Those straws have been piling up for many decades now, they are the frustrations of rural communities across Britain who feel misunderstood, neglected and frankly disrespected.
‘This isn’t just about tax or even just about farming, important though those things are, it is about a whole community demanding to be treated with respect.’
And he said: ‘I heard the anguish of the countryside on the streets of London earlier this week.
‘We may not agree over the inheritance tax changes, but this Government is determined to listen to rural Britain and end its long decline.’
