Farmers have been left ‘betrayed’ by Labour’s inheritance tax raid and Rachel Reeves has ‘ripped the rug out’ from the industry, a union boss claimed today.
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), delivered a fresh blast at the Chancellor’s Budget measures ahead of planned protests this week.
There has been uproar since Ms Reeves announced she is imposing inheritance tax on previously exempt agricultural estates worth over £1million, at a rate of 20 per cent.
Critics have warned that move will wipe out family-run farms who will be forced to sell up in order to pay death duties.
Thousands of farmers are due to attend protests in Westminster on Tuesday against the Chancellor’s ‘disastrous’ move.
There have even been threats of strikes, which could hit supplies of meat, barley and oats, over what has been dubbed Labour’s ‘family farm tax’.
But Mr Bradshaw criticised plans to halt supplies of food to supermarkets and said the NFU would not condone the clearing of store shelves.
Farmers have been left ‘betrayed’ by Labour’s inheritance tax raid and Rachel Reeves has ‘ripped the rug out’ from the industry, a union boss claimed today
Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU), delivered a fresh blast at the Chancellor’s Budget measures ahead of planned protests this week
Farmers staged a protest against the inheritance tax changes in Llandudno, Wales, yesterday as Labour held their Welsh conference
‘I think the industry is feeling betrayed, feeling angry,’ the union boss told Sky News.
‘We have a Government saying food security is a critical part of national security.
‘Yet they’ve ripped the rug out from that very industry which is going to invest in food security for the future.’
But the NFU president said he did not ‘for one moment condone’ withholding food from supermarkets in protest.
‘That is not an NFU tactic, we do not support emptying supermarket shelves,’ he added.
‘But I do completely understand the strength of feeling that there is amongst farmers, they feel helpless today, and they’re trying to think of what can they do to try and demonstrate what this means to them.
‘So look, I understand their strength of feeling, but we are not supporting that action.’
Treasury data shows that around three-quarters of farmers will pay nothing in inheritance tax as a result of the controversial Budget changes.
But farmers have challenged the figures and pointed instead to data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) which suggests 66 per cent of farm businesses are worth more than the £1 million threshold at which inheritance tax will now need to be paid.
Also appearing on Sky News this morning, Cabinet minister Louise Haigh swerved questions about why the PM did not speak to protesting farmers outside the Welsh Labour conference
Also appearing on Sky News this morning, Cabinet minister Louise Haigh swerved questions about why the Prime Minister did not speak to farmers as they staged a protest outside the Welsh Labour conference yesterday.
‘We do recognise the difficult situation that many are in, but we think the choices that we set out in the Budget are fair and proportionate,’ the Transport Secretary said.
Asked about contingency plans for food security if farmers strike, Ms Haigh added: ‘DEFRA will be setting out plans for the winter and… setting out contingency plans and ensuring that food security is treated as the priority it deserves to be.’
Tory shadow home secretary Chris Philp said the rise in inheritance tax is a ‘war on farmers’ that will ‘undermine our food security’.
Farmers are often ‘struggling to make ends meet’, he said. ‘So the fact that Labour has declared war on farmers is obviously bad for farmers.
‘But it’s actually bad for all of us, because it’ll undermine our food security.’
The NFU is holding a mass lobby of MPs on Tuesday, with 1,800 members gathering in Westminster – three times the original number planned – as part of efforts to force a rethink.
A separate rally taking place on the same day in central London has had to move location because of growing support from farmers.
Organisers say it will now take place on Whitehall, opposite Downing Street.
The rally aims to send a message that family farms and the rural community ‘stand united against the Government’s catastrophic Budget’, they added.
Farmers will hear from celebrities and farming leaders, including Mr Bradshaw.
Attendees are being asked to wear their boots and wellies as a sign of working people, and bring British produce for a mass food bank donation.
A procession to Parliament Square will be spearheaded by children on toy tractors.
But organisers have told those coming to the rally they should not bring their farm machinery.
The Chancellor plans to limit the 100 per cent relief for family farms to only the first £1million of combined agricultural and business property.
For anything above that, landowners will pay a 20 per cent tax rate, rather than the standard 40 per cent rate of inheritance tax applied to other land and property.
Speaking on Friday, Sir Keir Starmer admitted some farmers were ‘anxious’ about Labour ‘s changes to inheritance tax.
But he said the ‘vast majority’ of farms would be ‘totally unaffected’ as he claimed a couple using all their inheritance tax benefits will be able to pass on a £3million farm tax free.
Sir Keir also stressed that any inheritance tax charge on farms can be paid over 10 years.
‘I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago,’ he said.
‘What I would say about that is, once you add the £1m for the farmland, to the £1million that is exempt, to the £1million that is exempt for your spouse.
‘For most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3million before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.
‘That’s why the vast majority of farms are going to be totally unaffected by that.’