The scenes in Whitehall recently serve as a powerful reminder of a growing crisis that Labour refuses to acknowledge: the Government’s blatant disregard for Britain’s farmers and rural communities.
Farmers – those who work tirelessly to feed this nation – stood in protest, their livelihoods under attack, their futures uncertain.
Jeremy Clarkson, who has become something of a champion for rural Britain, summed it up bluntly: “It’s the end.”
At the heart of this anger lies Labour’s changes to inheritance tax on agricultural assets. From April 2026, farms worth over £1million will face a 20 per cent tax on anything above that threshold.
The Government insists this policy is “fair” and claims it will only affect the wealthiest estates. Yet farmers across the country – asset-rich but cash-poor – know the truth: this is a betrayal. The numbers speak for themselves. While Labour claims only 500 farms a year will be impacted, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and the Country Land and Business Association estimate as many as 70,000 could be affected.
These are not corporate conglomerates – they are family farms, passed down through generations, often worth millions in land but barely scraping by in profit. Take Gloucestershire livestock farmer David Barton, whose family farm has been running since 1913. His assets may be valued at £5million, but year-on-year profits are minimal. Under Labour’s plan, his son could face an inheritance tax bill of £800,000.
That’s not just a tax – it’s a death sentence for his family’s legacy. What Labour fails to grasp – or worse, refuses to care about – is that farming is not like other businesses. Land is not a luxury; it is the very foundation of their work. A farm valued at £3million is not a sign of untold wealth.
It is machinery, livestock, and acres of land that cannot simply be liquidated without destroying the business. Farmers cannot magically conjure up cash to pay crippling tax bills.
This comes at a time when farmers are already struggling to survive. Since 2019, the cost of pig farming has risen by 54 per cent, cattle by 44 per cent, and cereals by 43 per cent. Fuel, fertiliser, and food prices are skyrocketing, while subsidies – already in decline post-Brexit – do little to plug the gap.
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Government research puts the average farm profit at just £45,300 a year, but even this is likely overstated, excluding the smallest, most vulnerable farms. And what is Labour’s response? Environment Secretary Steve Reed dismisses farmers’ concerns as “wrong”, suggesting they should “plan their tax affairs” like other businesses. This tone-deaf comment shows just how out of touch Labour is with rural Britain. Farmers don’t have accountants on speed dial or vast financial reserves to “plan” around a poorly thought-out policy.
They have land, livestock, and long days of hard work. This is not just a tax change. It is the culmination of years of neglect and hostility toward the countryside. Labour claims to understand rural Britain, with Keir Starmer pointing to his childhood in the countryside as proof. But hollow words cannot hide the reality: this government has turned its back on farmers. These farmers are not asking for handouts.
As NFU President Tom Bradshaw said, they “would love to pay more tax” – if only the supply chain allowed them to make a decent living. Instead, Labour’s policies threaten to decimate family farms, forcing families to sell up and leaving Britain’s countryside in the hands of corporations and developers. The so-called “fairness” of this policy is nothing short of a myth.
Our farmers are the backbone of this country. They produce our food, care for our land, and preserve a way of life that is at the heart of Britain’s identity. Labour’s inheritance tax plan is a betrayal of that legacy. It is a “stab in the back, as Bradshaw rightly put it, and it will destroy rural Britain if it goes unchallenged.
The farmers marching on Whitehall are fighting not just for their livelihoods but for all of us. Britain’s food security, rural communities, and countryside heritage depend on them.
Labour’s inheritance tax plan threatens to wipe out generations of hard work and sacrifice, leaving our farms in the hands of corporations or developers. If Labour refuses to listen and reverse this disastrous policy, they will be remembered as the Government that abandoned rural Britain – and once these farms are gone, they will be lost forever.