Farmers will stage a ‘National Day of Unity’ in the new year as pressure mounts on the Government to halt the controversial family farm tax.
On January 25, towns in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland will see members of the farming community gathering to rally against the changes to inheritance tax reliefs, which were first announced in the autumn budget.
All four of the UK’s farming unions – National Farmers’ Union (NFU), NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland and Ulster Farmers’ Union – have organised the action and will participate directly in it.
While the day’s events will vary from region to region, the unions’ message is that the proposals are “badly thought out” and will “crush family farming in Britain”.
In October’s budget, Chancellor Rachel Reeves confirmed that from April 2026 the full 100% relief from inheritance tax will be restricted to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. But for assets over £1m, inheritance tax will apply with 50% relief, at an effective rate of 20%.
The Government has said this would just affect the wealthiest landowners and disincentivise buying agricultural land to avoid tax.
Farming groups including the NFU and Country Land and Business Association (CLA) have argued the policy is a threat to the future of family farming and the UK’s food security.
The National Day of Unity, which follows a series of protests and rallies across the country, is part of the industry’s wider plan to highlight the potential damage to family farming as a result of the inheritance tax reforms in the lead-up to the Government’s spring statement in March 2025.
Making the announcement, Tom Bradshaw, president of the NFU, said: “Farmers haven’t taken this destructive policy lying down and we won’t give up.
“There is too much at risk – our families, our future, our heritage and the undermining of the very sector that produces a safe, secure supply of British food.
“This date will give everyone that wants to an opportunity to support family farms from right across the UK to show unity and strength, and for farmers and growers to speak as one in our call for the Government to stop the family farm tax.”
The Day of Unity will also provide an opportunity to thank the British public for their “overwhelming support”, Mr Bradshaw added, and underline to Parliamentarians that the campaign “will not stop” until the tax is “finally subject to consultation and proper scrutiny”.
A petition launched by the NFU in the wake of the budget, which called on the Government to overturn the “awful” family farm tax, has so far received more than 265,000 signatures.
Mr Bradshaw continued: “We are so grateful to the British public for their ongoing support on this issue. The 25th is not just a day for the farming community to show unity, but anyone who believes Britain’s family farms, and the high quality food they produce, deserve to be better valued and supported.”
Details of the individual events in each region of England, and across the other home nations, will be released in January, with specific plans led by NFU farming leaders in those areas.