Hundreds of Northern Ireland farmers are taking part in protests against the Government’s inheritance tax reforms.
Local rallies are being staged as part of a so-called National Day of Unity across the UK, with farmers bringing food, tractors and livestock to town centres.
The events take place after a petition signed by more than 270,000 members of the public was handed in to Downing Street on Friday by NFU president Tom Bradshaw and NFU Cymru president Aled Jones, urging the Government to ditch what they described as the “devastating family farm tax”.
Local farmers take part in a UK-wide day of action at the Eikon Centre near Lisburn, Co Antrim on Saturday in protest against the inheritance tax changes to Agricultural and Business Property Relief. Photo by Kelvin Boyes / Press Eye.
Seven rallies took place across all six counties of Northern Ireland.
Lines of tractors arrived at the site of the former Maze Prison to take part in the two Co Down routes, many bearing posters which read Save Our Family Farms and UFU flags.
They left to cover two routes, one along the busy A1 road to Banbridge, and the other to Saintfield. Processions also took place in counties Armagh, Antrim, Tyrone, Fermanagh and Londonderry.
UFU chief executive Wesley Aston said they were stepping up their action after a protest event at the same place in November.
He said the new rules the Government is proposing on inheritance tax will mean huge bills for the next generation of farmers, which will risk the viability of family farms in the future.
“This is another step to highlight the concern we have and let the general public know how impactful this will be, not only to farmers but food security going forward,” he said.
“We are doing our bit in Northern Ireland but this is part of a UK-wide activity and plan of action so that the Government will actually start engaging with us as farmers to look at this issue.”
He said they want to send a strong message to the Government that this is a huge issue for the farming community, their level of concern, and urging to listen to them.
He said future action will be taken if deemed necessary.
A Government spokesperson said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast.
“This Government will invest £5 billion into farming over the next two years, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history.
“We are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.
“Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean estates will pay a reduced effective inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than standard 40%, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free.
“This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates a year.”