Elon Musk is applauded by Brits for telling Keir Starmer to ‘depart the farmers alone’ in rising Budget tax row

Elon Musk received wide backing after telling the Labour government to ‘leave the farmers alone’ amid a growing row over new rules introduced in the Budget.

Weighing in on a post bashing the government over changes to inheritance tax affecting farmers, Musk said: ‘We should leave the farmers alone. We farmers immense gratitude for making the food on our tables! [sic]’

The Twitter/X owner, who was roundly criticised for wading into British politics over the summer, received thanks and nods of support from farmers and consumers who urged ‘farmers are the backbone of any society’.

‘Standing with them isn’t just support; it’s standing for resilience, independence and sustainability,’ replied entrepreneur Sebastian Asprella. ‘Let’s honor and protect the hands that nourish us.’

User StarSun, from Manchester, added: ‘Thank you for supporting the farmers, Elon Musk! I know farmers in the Lake District in UK, they still wake up at 5am at age 90 years to go at the fields and care for the animals. They are fit and healthy , whole villages of elderly hardworking people!’

Michael Banster said: ‘The backbone of any nation. There is no other profession that works as hard as farmers, for as little financial return they do. They need support, not theft by taxation.’

And user Tripp Frank said: ‘We really do. The statistics on how many people grew their own food 50 years ago to now is an eye opener. 

‘We must get back to this, even if it’s just small personal gardens to supplement what you find in the store. We shouldn’t be importing anything we can grow ourselves.’

Not all were glad to hear Musk’s thoughts on British politics, however.

‘Who cares?’ wrote user Bex. ‘He’s not British. He’s not a tax or farming expert. His opinion counts for nothing.’

‘You know nothing about this issue and yet you are wading into it. Any post describing Keir Starmer as a communist is delusional drivel,’ said user cliffski, referring to the original post from commentator Eva Vlaardingerbroek.

‘And the changes are for super-wealthy land owners only. “Family farms” will not even be affected. Maybe try reading about an issue in future?’

Musk’s comments came after the Labour party announced a tax shake-up in the Autumn budget, including a major change to inheritance tax.

Under the reforms, the tax will be levied at an effective rate of 20 per cent on the value of business and agricultural assets over £1million – axing a previous exemption.

Outraged farmers have called the move ‘bonkers’ and warning that unaffordable tax bills faced by the inheritors of family farms will lead to them going under. 

Farmers have also contested the claim that it will only affect ‘super-wealthy’ land owners.

Emma Gray, a shepherdess from Argyll and Bute on the west coast of Scotland, declared the policy ‘a disgusting land grab’.   

‘A lot of family farms are going to go under when they have to pay the death duties,’ she said in a TikTok video. 

‘And you might think a farm being worth £2million sounds like a lot of money, but a lot of the time the person who has the farm has already been paying out siblings who also have a stake in the farm. 

‘So they spend their whole life paying it off and are ready to pass it on to the next generation – but now they’re going to be hit with inheritance tax, which is going to make the whole thing completely unaffordable. 

‘What’s going to happen is farmers won’t be able to pass their farms onto the next generation – at least not easily – so they’ll come onto the market and be snapped up by non farmers like those big corporations who want to offset their carbon.’ 

Olly Harrison, a farmer and YouTuber, said he now ‘can’t afford to die’ because the resulting tax bill would be too great. 

In a video clip, he explained that the £1million buffer before inheritance tax has to be paid would in most cases be swallowed up by the cost of the farmhouse and outbuildings, meaning the rest of the land would be taxed. 

‘If you’ve got a hill farm somewhere, die and are worth a lot on paper, 20 per cent of that paper value needs to be paid in tax,’ he said. 

‘It works out at about £66 an acre for 25 years to pay that debt off. If you’ve got a mortgage it’s that on top as well. 

‘It’s just absolutely bonkers. Every time a farmer dies no one is going to take on a farm because they can’t afford to – it will just be sold off.’ 

James Robinson, whose family have farmed Strickley Farm in Cumbria for more than a hundred years, declared the news had made him ‘feel sick’. 

In a heartfelt Instagram post, he wrote: ‘Next year my family will have looked after Strickley for 150 years, six generations making it what it is today. Everything given back to the farm, six generations giving their whole lives to the fields, woodland, becks and hedges.

‘There was lots of speculation that the Agricultural Property Relief would be reduced, but I doubt anyone actually believed it would happen.

‘But, it’s ok! Rachel Reeves has ensured that small family farms are protected with a £1 million threshold. I hate to tell you, but that’s £1 million will buy very little anywhere in the country. 

‘Strickley is only average sized, probably smaller than average to be honest, and yet we will be three times the threshold. That value is there on paper, but it’s not something that is to be cashed in. 

‘Farms are bequeathed from one generation to another in a way that’s hard for many to understand, they are almost held in trust for the next generation. 

‘The name may change on a piece of paper, but farms are never really owned. 

‘They are cared for, loved and lived, they are valued for what they are, and what we can do for them.

‘Let us hope that things are not as bad as we fear, and that with careful planning we can ensure that the next generation of family farmers can add their love and passion to the hard work and care that has been given to the land before them, otherwise this has the potential to break up generations of hope & destroy communities forever.’

The National Farmers’ Union predicted the change – axing Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief on farms worth more than £1million – would ‘snatch away the next generation’s ability to carry on producing British food’ – and could lead to higher prices.

And the Country Land and Business Association said the move, from April 2026, would hit 70,000 farms – calling it ‘nothing short of a betrayal’ which would ‘jeopardise the future of rural businesses’.

Previously those owning farmland benefitted from Agricultural Property Relief, meaning they were exempt from inheritance tax.

But now for those with farms worth more than £1million, the ‘death tax’ will apply with a 50 per cent relief at an effective rate of 20 per cent from April 2026.

Such is the outrage caused by the changes that Labour MPs want the Government to consider raising the threshold at which the tax is applied, The Telegraph reports.

Ms Reeves said on Wednesday that small family farms will continue to be protected from inheritance tax and said three-quarters of claims will be unaffected.