This week thousands of UK farmers massed in London to protest the introduction of inheritance tax on farms
.
Max MacGillivray, editor in chief of Beanstalk Global, captured the scene at the London Farmers protests against the government's new inheritance tax rules on 19 November
From the BBC - Thousands of people have protested in London over changes to inheritance tax for farmers announced in the Budget. Among those marching in Whitehall was TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who said "it's the end" for farmers, as he called for the government to change its mind.
The prime minister said he understood farmers' concerns and "wants to support" them but added "the vast majority" would be unaffected. From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will be liable to the tax at 20% - half the usual inheritance tax rate. Other allowances could mean a couple who are married or in a civil partnership could pass on a farm worth as much as £3m.
However, many farmers argue that while they are asset rich - for example in terms of their land and livestock - they are cash poor, and the changes would mean they would have to sell up to be able to pay the tax. Ahead of the protest, around 1,800 National Farmers' Union (NFU) members met near Parliament as part of a mass lobby of MPs.
In addition to the NFU lobby, thousands of farmers from all regions travelled to London to join a "very civilised" March supplementing the protest about the Budget and it's potential to destroy small/medium farms for future generations!
The group's president, Tom Bradshaw, gave an impassioned speech describing the tax changes as destructive, a "stab in the back" for farmers, wrong and unacceptable.
He told protesters the changes were the "straw that broke the camel's back".
Later, speaking to Sky News, he said Labour had "destroyed" a "contract" between farming and the government dating back to World War Two.
"We'd love to pay more tax," Mr Bradshaw added. "If we get proper margins from food production, and we end up swelling the Treasury coffers, bring it on. But at the moment the supply chain doesn't give us those returns that enables us to save the money to pay the inheritance tax that this government now wants to take."
Below: My friend: A small farmer's outlook on proposed Inheritance Tax
In the below post last year, Starmer said losing a farm is not like losing any other business. He also criticised the past government for lack of attention to detail.
Click on: Pro Farmer Starmer?
What the budget laid out both threatens the sustainability of farms and appears to be based on incredibly inaccurate data. Yes land is used by very wealthy non farmers as a tax loop hole. That doesn't mean that the majority of farmers can afford to produce food for the nation whilst paying huge amounts of inheritance tax.
Surely a more considered approach would have been to look at business's with land where profit comes from outside of food production?
It's not only just the inheritance tax aspect of the budget that will hit farmers. An increase in tax on fertiliser, the increase in wages and national insurance contributions will all have significant impact on the cost of producing food. Something that retailers have also pointed out today.
We produce some of the best food in the world to incredibly high welfare and environmental standards. We need to protect and promote British food production something that the budget despite the government's claims just does not do.
For Steve Reed to say 'farmers just need to do more with less' is an insult to the whole industry.
Has he sat down with producers and retailers and gone through cost of production figures? If so I would love to know where the extra money will come from as I can't see retailers and ultimately customers offering to pay more to pay this tax
The English Apple Man Comments
This is the crux of the imbalance. Successive Governments have operated a 'cheap food policy' maintained by subsidies, and since the emergence of Supermarkets 'retail dominance' the real cost of food has become a smaller percentage of the shopping basket.
The exemption from Inheritance Tax for farmers has allowed the small/medium farming community to survive. In a lot of cases it is SURVIVAL but it has allowed passionate farmers a way of maintaining their way of life AND been a major element in keeping retail prices stable.
There has never (in 'my lifetime') been such a scale of outpouring of emotion from the farming fraternity, true many individuals have suffered catastrophic events like; Foot and Mouth disease, bovine tuberculosis, fowl pest, mad cow disease, PLUS storm and tempest et al. Social media is awash with comments of despair and articulate criticism
But if there was one overarching theme of the day's gathering, it was a deep sense of anger and betrayal at the current Labour government. Signs reading 'Keir Starmer the Farmer Harmer' were impossible to avoid, as were repeated attacks on 'Rachel Thieves'
'I really had a lot of faith in this government coming in and turning this around, and all we've got is bitterness,' said Andrew Booth, a farmer and former Labour Party member from Dorset. 'It's a complete betrayal of our industry and I hope they get a proper smacking for this.'
'The b******s just don't really like us do they?' said Simon Orson, a farmer from Melton Mowbray. 'We don't tend to vote Labour so they see us as easy pickings, it's as easy as that.'
What many seemed keen to impress was the disparity between farmer's assets and material wealth, which they say Labour had deliberately misinterpreted in order to downplay the level of farm it would inflict on their industry.
Among the many thousands protesting, Jeremy Clarkson, who is recovering from a life-saving heart operation, attended the event alongside his Clarkson's Farm co-stars Kaleb Cooper and Charlie Ireland, theatre legend Andrew Lloyd-Webber and dozens of MPs including Kemi Badenoch and Nigel Farage.
The 64-year-old took to stage to cheers and applause as he addressed the mass protest of more than 13,000 farmers and their supporters.
Farmers faced costs, pressure from environmentalists and regulations, and 'we have all these complications and costs, and there's very little money in it as you know - and then we got the Budget', he said, to boos from the crowd.
Earlier in the day, Mr Clarkson - who runs Diddly Squat farm in Chipping Norton - became exasperated with Victoria Derbyshire and accused her of failing to be impartial during an interview for Newsnight on Whitehall.
Mr Clarkson also hit out at the BBC during his speech, branding the broadcaster 'the mouthpiece of this infernal Government'.
He went on to say he has to 'get the brakes on' adding he is 'off my t***' on codeine and paracetamol, before describing how he had come to understand that farming was 'unbelievably difficult, dangerous and cold'.
'I beg of the government to be big, to accept that this was rushed through, it wasn't thought out and it's a mistake.
That's the big thing to do, admit it and back down,' Mr Clarkson said.
From my friend Vikram whose family farm in SHIMLA in the Himalayas
"I was remembering you as I walked past the Farmers Protests yesterday. "It will be interesting to see your views and analysis of the issue in your JOURNAL this week"
BBC's Chris Mason captured one 'key point' for farmers their land is not a number, it's their sense of belonging, roots, purpose and community. This is why most farmers carry on farming despite having very little. They have a cultural perspective to pass on the identity to their next generation. With limited incomes all these farms will be gobbled up by large corporate farms
"I can totally see that as in Indian context, in the last 50 years in my district, only two farms were sold. As we consider them as mother land, the great provider for centuries. What a mess if people have to sell up to pay tax!
The English Apple Man Comments
"As a former farmer and champion of apple growers, I have a strong empathy with the farming/growing community, so my support naturally leans towards the arguments of the farming fraternity, in particular the small farmers who generally work for very little financial return. However we all live in difficult times and one can understand many of our population who will struggle to keep warm and an increasing number who rely on foodbanks for a daily meal, finding it difficult to feel sorry for farmers.
BUT, reflecting on farmers "asset rich - cash poor" argument, Vikram's appraisal of the farming community in The Himalayas draws my attention to apple growers in Northern Italy. I have been there on a number of occasions and as we drive from Verona to Bolzano, we pass miles (sorry kilometres) of continuous tightly packed orchards and vineyards.
Now most of these apple growers are doing well, some very well, but similarly (successful or not) the land they grow on is astronomically expensive, far above our land prices in UK and totally disproportionate to the cash generated from the land.
The main reason for the high price of land is the succession laws in the region. If it is passed onto the next generation, it is free of Inheritance Tax. However if it is sold as freehold; TAX is collected. So the assets are way above the income level.
See my story of The Himalayan Apple Man
Concluding my appraisal of the Farmers Protest March, last night I watched BBC Question Time and understandably there were contrasting views on the plight of members of our society struggling to survive in or on the edge of poverty. And support for the farmers dilemma.
Fiona Bruce presented an hour of debate from Trowbridge in Wiltshire. On the panel: Nick Thomas-Symonds MP, Harriett Baldwin MP, Daisy Cooper MP and Minette Batters.
The presence on the panel of Minette Batters (previous President of The National farmers Union) who appraised the situation with common sense and much wisdom. She like my farmer friend asked the searching question to Nick Thomson Symonds MP, "why when you project the Labour Government's protestation of support for British farmers, and your claim that you are after wealthy individuals/corporations only buying land to avoid taxation, WHY don't you go after them and leave the genuine farmers alone?
Poor Nick Thompson-Symonds, he looked like a rabbit caught in the headlights as he repeatedly quoted the party line statistics, none of which satisfied the majority present. He came across to me as 'a bumbling idiot, while Minette Batters displayed the common sense, wisdom and articulate knowledge of someone who truly understands the implications of this badly thought out Government policy
Minette, should be a politician, maybe even Prime Minister!!!!!!!
Finally; Subsidies to farmers may seem to be for the farmers benefit, but they are really a subsidy allowing retail food prices well below the true cost of production.
Click on: Farmers Protest 16 November 2024 Full Report courtesy Beanstalk Global
That is all for this week, sorry it's a bit late and lengthy, but this is an important issue, which MUST be resolved if the custodians of the British Countryside are to survive
Take care
The English Apple Man