Farmers’ protest live: Police probe tractors breaking barrier as Clarkson says inheritance tax a ‘hammer blow’
Farmers from across the country have travelled to London this morning to join protests over changes to inheritance tax rules
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Your support makes all the difference.The Metropolitan Police have said tractor drivers who ploughed through barriers at the farmers’ protest in Westminster will be reported.
Scotland Yard said that they had been engaging with those driving the vehicles but said that driving through a no entry sign was “not acceptable”.
Taking to the stage, Jeremy Clarkson urged Rachel Reeves to admit her proposed inheritance tax hikes for farmers was a “mistake”, as he described it as a “hammer blow” to the agricultural community.
Speaking to protesters on stage in Whitehall, the TV presenter said: “For the sake of everybody here, and all the farmers stuck at home today paralysed by a fog of despair by what’s been foisted upon them, I beg the government to accept this was rushed through, wasn’t thought out, and was a mistake.”
First unveiled in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget, the plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m have sparked fury among rural communities, who have contested the government’s assertion that small family farms will not be impacted by the changes.
National Farmers’ Union president Tom Bradshaw said an estimated 75 per cent of commercial farm businesses “were caught in the eye of this storm” of a policy which will “rip the heart of family farms”.
Tenant farmer says ‘every single farmer’ affected by Budget
A tenant farmer who joined the protest in central London said “every single farmer” in his area will be affected by changes in the Budget.
Daniel Spours, a tenant farmer from north Northumberland, travelled to Whitehall to protest against changes to inheritance tax and carbon rules which he said will affect the price of fertiliser.
Mr Spours said: “We are about £60,000 worse off next year from payments that have been slashed by the Government.
“Going forward, there is more taxes to come on fertiliser that’s going to affect us hugely as well, so it’s looking pretty grim.”
Rachel Reeves confirmed Government plans to introduce the UK Carbon Border Adjustment from 1 January 2027, which Mr Spours said will impact the price of fertiliser.
“I’m not a farm owner,” Mr Spours. “I’m just a tenant, but we still will be impacted by business property relief.”
Born to Farm: Dozens of budding farmers take their tiny tractors for a spin around Parliament Square
Somerset farmer brings young daughter to protest
“If Labour wins on this, it’ll be the end of eight generations of farming in my family,” says dairy farmer Victoria Diamond.
The Somerset farmer says she and her husband won’t be able to afford an expected £200k inheritance levy on the family farm.
She’s come to the protest with her daughter Ivy Lee, aged just 22 months old.
“We want to keep the farm going in the family, we are farmers, but this measure will end it all, how could we afford £200k when we are already in the red,” she says.
Nigel Farage reportedly blocked from giving speech
Nigel Farage has reportedly been blocked from speaking at the farming protest by the organisers over concerns that he “might make it all about himself”.
The Reform UK leader arrived at the organised event wearing a waxed jacket, wellington boots, a mustard trousers.
While other politicians from other parties, such as Dame Priti Patel, have been invited to take to the stage, Farage’s offer has reportedly been rejected.
A source told The Times: “He has been trying to be allowed to speak but we are getting told by lots of people not to let him because he might try to make it all about himself.”
Queues form to lobby MPs as streets line up with farmers and tourists
Road closures can be seen around outside Westminster Hall as several tractors pass with banners displayed attacking Labour, Alex Ross reports.
A double decker red bus also circles the area flying Reform UK flags - despite protest organisers urging people to keep the protest non political.
So far, streets are lined with a mix of photographers, farmers and bemused tourists.
Portcullis House, opposite Westminster Hall, is one of the locations NFU members are lobbying MPs.
Here’s the queue outside to get through security. One farmer jokes “they must be scared of us”.
In pictures: Thousands gather in Westminster for protest
Boris Johnson says tax is ‘spiteful and punitive’
Boris Johnson is among the number of public figures criticising the family farm tax, labelling it as a “demented” policy.
In a post on X, the former prime minister wrote: “Good luck to everyone protesting today against Labour’s demented family farm tax.
“Farmers work all hours and all year round to feed this country. We should be doing more to champion British food and keep our farmers on the land.
“Instead Reeves is clobbering British agriculture with a tax that is spiteful and punitive and economically disastrous. End it now.”
Farmers operate on ‘tight margins’ and are ‘very cash-poor’, says minister
Shadow trade minister Greg Smith has said the Government “just don’t understand” that farmers operate on “really tight margins”.
“They don’t have a million quid sat in the bank to pay a random tax bill,” he said: “The only way they can meet that bill is by selling land.”
He said that farms are “incredibly asset-rich but very, very cash-poor” and the changes would mean that businesses are “potentially not viable at all”.
Asked whether farming became harder under regulations legislated for by the Tories, he said: “It’s definitely changed, because we went from the Common Agricultural Policy to a new system, and that system is being transitioned in slowly, and change is something that is very, very difficult.
“And, yes, there have been some additional environmental regulations and schemes that have been layered in on top to meet the 2050 net zero target, which the last government indeed legislated for.
“What we’ve got to do now, though, and I’ve always been clear on this, is find that happy medium that still prioritises food production.”
In pictures: Reform UK leader speaking to farmers
More protests will take place across the country, farmers warn
Ollie Atkinson, a farmer from Hampshire, warned that further regional action will be taken following on from today’s protest if the government doesn’t backtrack.
Christopher Moar, a friend of Mr Atkinson who travelled to London in support of the protest, said the rural community “feels like they were lied to” by Rachel Reeves.
“There is huge amounts of support for farmers across the country”, Mr Atkinson told The Independent, saying he expects further demonstrations to take place outside of London.
The farmer added that there is concern among the agricultural community that NFU chief Tom Bradshaw won’t do what is needed to force the government’s hand, suggesting he needs to take a tougher approach in his talks with ministers.
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