Militant farmers will hold back meat and crops from supermarkets next week as part of a ‘national strike’ against Labour’s inheritance tax raids.
The direct action will be taken by ‘several thousand’ UK farmers over a week starting from Sunday.
It coincides with over 10,000 farmers heading to London for a march against the punishing tax next Tuesday, November 19.
Almost 2,000 farmers are also expected to meet up with MPs in a ‘mass lobbying event’ by the National Farmers’ Union on the same day.
It comes after Chancellor Rachel Reeves introduced IHT on all previously exempt farms worth over £1m, at a rate of 20 per cent, in her autumn Budget.
Farmers fear the change will prevent them passing their assets down through the generations as they will be forced to sell off parts of their businesses to pay the punishing death duties.
The direct action will be taken by ‘several thousand’ UK farmers over a week starting from Sunday. (Pictured: Farmers protest outside the Northern Farming Conference in Hexham on November 6)
Chancellor Rachel Reeves is facing pressure from farmers after she introduced inheritance tax on farms worth over £1m
A tractor in Henley on Thames. New inheritance tax rules for farms will see a tax of 20% raised on agricultural assets above £1 million
Protest group Enough Is Enough last night vowed to put a shot across the Government’s bows as industry anger mounts.
In a statement, the Enough is Enough group said: ‘British farmers have simply had enough and those who are able will be going on strike for the first time in history.
‘We are being suffocated by a government that seems determined to destroy our livelihoods, our future and our ability to feed the nation.
‘We simply cannot allow the destruction of our industry to continue and responsibility to feed our nation be taken away.
‘This is a last resort but we as farmers are in despair as we simply cannot afford to provide food to the public.’
Organisers said the strike will not involve dairy farmers because milk and eggs cannot be held back.
But the action could hit meat supplies, as UK farms have an 80 per cent share of the British beef market, while 90 per cent of fresh poultry in supermarkets is British-reared.
Meanwhile, the UK’s 100,000 farms produce 66 per cent of the country’s lamb, and around 50 per cent pork.
Some 81 per cent of wheat consumed in Britain is produced here, nearly all barley and oats and 56 per cent of vegetables.
Farmers drive slowly through central London in protests on food security in March
Farmers demonstrated in London in March over food security fears
Over 100,000 farms could be hit by Labour’s changes to inheritance tax, the Conservatives have claimed
One farmer taking part in the strike said: ‘Our food security is at significant risk as a consequence of what they (Labour) have done. We’ll have to go on strike because they only seem to listen to people who do.’
Welsh hill farmer Gareth Wyn Jones, 57, said he has reluctantly decided to take part in the strike because he fears the future of the industry is at risk.
He said: ‘We don’t want people in the shops panic buying and we don’t want total food shortages but it’s a shot across the bows against the government. Further action could follow.
‘My family has been farming for 375 years and I fear my generation will be the last.’
Tim Taylor, one of the organisers of the campaign in England, who runs an animal feed business and is a Tory member of Fenland District Council in Cambridgeshire, said: ‘The aim is to disrupt but not to decimate the supermarket shelves.. We would like to think this would achieve public support.’
Charlotte Ashley, 36, who keeps cows and sheep with husband Roy, 40, near Appleby-in-Westmorland, Cumbria, said they are not in a position to strike but added: ‘I think that withholding non-perishable items for a week could be some starting point.
‘Farmers 100 per cent need to send a clear message to Rachel Reeves.’
Mental health support lines for farmers have been ‘inundated’ since the announcement by Ms Reeves, leaders of the planned strike say.
There are fears fresh protests or blockades could bring vital parts of the UK’s food industry to a standstill
Farmers protest outside the Northern Farming Conference in Hexham, Northumberland on November 6
Last week, the family of South Yorkshire farmer John Charlesworth, 78, revealed he took his own life the day before the Budget to prevent his children being hit by IHT.
Clive Bailye (CORR), who runs The Farming Forum discussion website, said he expected 10,000 farmers to turn up at next week’s rally.
Staffordshire farmer Mr Bailye said of the strike: ‘I can see it happening, leading to some shortages. Slightly more militant groups are talking of French-style protests, too.’
He said the event aimed to be ‘a show of strength – for farmers and their families to come to Westminster but without their tractors’.
Mr Bailye also said farmers are planning to stop taking sewage slurry from water companies – giving the government a further ‘s***storm’ to deal with.
Separately, farmers plan to target Welsh Labour’s autumn conference in Llandudno, this Friday, but have not revealed details.
Although official data states the average farm is 88 hectares – some 217 acres – and land prices average nearly £12,000 per acre, the government maintains IHT changes will not affect ‘the vast majority of farmers’.
It adds: ‘This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while fixing the public services.’