Keir Starmer had probably forgotten about the furore surrounding his inheritance tax reforms, given all the other disasters he has overseen since the plans were announced last year. But farmers brought this back to the front of his mind at the Labour Party conference on Sunday, making it clear that they won’t back down on the issue.
The change will remove the existing inheritance exemptions for agricultural property, forcing farmers with high land values—but, crucially, slim profit margins—to sell land just to cover tax bills. Dubbed a ‘death tax,’ campaigners have argued over the past year that it will be a “death sentence” for family farms across the country.
Farmers brought this point to the fore on Sunday, carrying a coffin through the streets of Liverpool, where Labour’s conference is taking place, while bearing banners reading: “Labour, shame on you.”
Photo by Oli SCARFF / AFP
A fourth-generation dairy farmer from Benburb, County Tyrone, toldFarmers Weekly that “this death tax will, over time, fragment farms until there isn’t a single farm left in the UK.”
It is so designed that it is inevitable that slowly, but surely, all generational family-owned land in the UK will be brought to market to be scooped up by global corporations.
Another from Matlock, Derbyshire, told the Telegraph that Starmer “is betraying the country.”
The protest was led by the grassroots group ‘Farmers To Action,’ and has been described as “just the beginning.”
Fresh protests also look likely to take place in Brussels soon, thanks to sweeping subsidy cuts and controversial trade pacts that risk plunging rural Europe into crisis.
Michael Curzon is a news writer for europeanconservative.com based in England’s Midlands. He is also Editor of Bournbrook Magazine, which he founded in 2019, and previously wrote for London’s Express Online. His Twitter handle is @MichaelCurzon_.
