Farmers protest inheritance tax on Budget day
Farmers have taken to the streets of Westminster on Budget day in a protest about inheritance tax, bringing tractors to Whitehall despite the Metropolitan Police banning agricultural machinery from the area, reports BritPanorama.
A tractor was parked outside Parliament on Abingdon Street, with more tractors seen driving through Westminster early on Wednesday as police intervened to stop around 20 vehicles in the vicinity.
The protest responds to the Chancellor’s plans to introduce a 20% rate on agricultural land and businesses valued at more than £1 million.
On Wednesday morning, farmers from across the UK travelled to London, including one man dressed as Father Christmas, whose tractor carried a large spruce tree and bore a sign that read: “Farmer Christmas – the naughty list: Keir Starmer, Rachel Reeves, David Lammy, Diane Abbott, Angela Rayner & the BBC.”
The tractor was parked on Whitehall before Metropolitan Police officers intervened.
Farmer Mark Watler from Grantham, Lincolnshire, was among those gathered in Trafalgar Square, representing the National Farmers’ Union. The 50-year-old told the PA news agency, “The inheritance tax is just the tip of the iceberg. We’re not doing it for the money, it’s a passion. We just want a fair deal.”
He added, “I’ve grown up working on farms from the age of 12. It’s disheartening to see how we’re being treated.”
David Gunn, an arable farmer and agricultural contractor from near Sevenoaks in Kent, expressed his concerns on Budget day about the Government’s move to impose inheritance tax on larger farm businesses. He noted, “Inheritance tax is one reason; it’s going to cripple the farmers, the small family farmers. There are all the other taxes they’ve been putting on us, and the prices we get for our produce versus what it costs in the shop, we don’t make any money.”
He further remarked, “Then there’s food security; farmers are going out of business.” His message to the Government was clear: “Sort the pledge out. You said in the manifesto you would look after the farmers, which you totally haven’t; you’ve ruined the countryside.”
This protest highlights ongoing tensions between the farming community and government fiscal policies, particularly concerning inheritance tax, which can disproportionately impact family-run farms during generational transitions. As agriculture continues to navigate economic pressures, the implications of this policy extend beyond taxation, influencing food security and the sustainability of rural livelihoods in the UK.
