Farmers to pressure Labour MPs in fresh wave of protests over inheritance tax in New Year
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Campaigners against farming inheritance changes are planning to target rural Labour MPs with a fresh wave of protests from next month. Farmers from across the country took to the streets of Westminster earlier this month in anger over the changes announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in October.
Under the changes, the tax is being imposed on farms worth more than £1 million, with an effective tax rate of 20% on assets above the threshold, rather than the normal 40% rate for inheritance tax. Demos are set to take place on January 25 in areas away from Westminster in a bid to put pressure on rural MPs, The Times reported.
Activists are also planning on putting up roadside banners along main roads to catch MPs’ attention as they travel around over Christmas. Tom Bradshaw, president of the NFU, told the paper that farmers would not give up fighting against the changes. He said: “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 government to stop the family farm tax. “We are so grateful to members of 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.”.
