Farming industry ‘destroyed’ by lack of government support, say protesters
Kurt Morton, 39, drove in a rally of dozens of tractors on Friday morning to protest against changes to inheritance tax rules for farmers.
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Your support makes all the difference.A farmer protesting against changes to agricultural inheritance tax (IHT) said his industry has been “destroyed” by successive governments not supporting farmers.
Kurt Morton, 39, drove in a rally of dozens of tractors along the A303 in Hampshire on Friday morning to protest against changes to IHT rules for farmers.
Mr Morton, a fifth-generation mixed farmer told the PA news agency he and other farmers did not want to be protesting.
“Us farmers, you have to push us before we ignite but we have been pushed all the way along now,” he said.
“We don’t want to be doing this.”
Mr Morton said 103 tractors were in the rally, organised by Farmers To Action, which stretched back around three miles.
One tractor pictured had a placard on its front which read: “No farmers, no food. Axe the tax.”
Mr Morton said changes to agricultural IHT could impact whether his children can carry on in his family’s farming tradition.
“I would like my children to carry on because it isn’t just a job, it is a way of life,” he said.
The farmer said his 600-acre farm in Hampshire is worth “a lot of money” and estimates tax changes could cost him from £1 million to £1.5 million.
“We have no money and we don’t earn anything from it,” he said. “We are not greedy as farmers, we just want to make a decent living.”
I would like my children to carry on because it isn’t just a job, it is a way of life
He said the current Government has carried on a tradition of not looking out for farmers.
“They’ve destroyed us as an industry,” he said.
The rally comes after a host of tractors rolled up outside the Examinations School in Oxford on Thursday as Environment Secretary Steve Reed addressed the Oxford Farming Conference inside.
The tractors continuously honked their horns in protest, which could be heard inside the venue as Mr Reed answered questions from farmers.
On Thursday, Mr Reed repeated Labour’s claims of a £22 billion black hole in the nation’s finances left by the last government, saying: “We were shocked by the size of the financial black hole we were left to fill.
“I’m sorry that some of the action we had to take shocked you in turn, but stable finances are the foundation of the economic growth needed.”
Last November, an estimated 13,000 people descended on Whitehall to protest against the changes to agricultural inheritance tax.
A Government spokesperson said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast – we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come.
“Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will impact around 500 estates a year. For these estates, inheritance tax will be at half the rate paid by others, with 10 years to pay the liability back interest free. This is a fair and balanced approach which fixes the public services we all rely on.”