Watch the moment sheep farmer John Young becomes emotional as he explains why he is joining thousands of agricultural workers in London to protest Rachel Reeves’s Budget.
Speaking on GB News, Young told Bev Turner he has travelled down from Northumberland to ensure his voice is heard.
“I feel passionate about what the farmers have got to say – I am a fifth generation farmer but only a tenant farmer and I don’t really fit into this category”, he said.
“But if I don’t stand up for the community, we will lose. I am very passionate about farming and we need it as an industry in this country.
John Young said farming is ‘in his blood’ as he emotionally explained his reasons for attending today’s rally
PA / GB NEWS
“I’m fifth generation and we have had the farm for 125 years in January. It’s not easy. We don’t make any money and people need to understand we need farmers on a daily basis.
“We need farmers to feed this nation. No matter what you’re doing. Whether you’re having your breakfast, a sandwich from Marks & Spencer or McDonald’s, a farmer has been involved in that. We need that.”
LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
Young said farmers feel “very passionate” about making sure their voices are head today in London.
He told Bev: “We’re motivated. I have spoken to people from Devon, I have spoken to people from Scotland.
“We had snow and everything on the way down here and we’re here to stand up for the farming community.
“Not only are we standing against this tax, but some of the other hidden taxes that were brought in.
Rachel Reeves and Keir Starmer have faced tough scrutiny for their financial policies since winning the election in JulyPA
“I think there will be tens of thousands of farmers. I have spoken to a few people. There are people organising this with a big following.”
Farmers have reacted with fury to inheritance tax changes unveiled in Rachel Reeves’s Budget which limit the existing 100 per cent relief for farms to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property.
For anything above that threshold, landowners will pay a 20 per cent tax rate rather than the 40 per cent rate of inheritance tax applied to other land and property.
Speaking to reporters on his way to the G20 summit in Brazil, Sir Keir Starmer said it was important to support farmers, pointing to £5 billion over two years for farming in England, and said he was “absolutely confident the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected” by the tax changes.
Bev Turner is in London speaking to farmers
GB NEWS
Environment Secretary Steve Reed has defended the changes as “fair and balanced”, saying it would only affect 500 estates a year and small family farms would not be hit.
He said in the Daily Telegraph that exemptions for agricultural land had led to wealthy individuals from non-farming backgrounds buying up land to avoid paying inheritance.
That had forced up rural land prices, “robbing young farmers of the dream of owning their own farm”.
And he said: “It’s become the most effective way for the super-rich to avoid paying their inheritance tax – and it’s costing other taxpayers a whopping £200 million.”