A demonstrator holds a placard reading “Don’t Starmer Our Farmers” during a farmers’ protest against inheritance tax rules for land ownership, outside of Downing Street, on Whitehall in central London on November 19, 2024.
Ben STANSALL / AFP
Representatives for the ag sector insist there is still time for the government to reverse its damaging inheritance tax reforms.
After Labour last year broke its pre-election promise by going after the inheritance tax relief for farms in its first budget in 14 years, one protester claimed that Britain hasn’t seen “this kind of anger in among farmers” for decades.
More than a year on, and with the government still having not budged on the new rules, which will take effect in April 2026, UK farmers appear even angrier still.
Some of their representatives organised nationwide protests on Monday, ahead of Labour’s next budget on November 26th. They say that the change will force farmers with high land values—but, crucially, slim profit margins—to sell land just to cover tax bills.
In Lincolnshire, farmers staged a 12-hour “go slow” protest against the tax reform, involving 50 tractors, tankers, and muck spreaders. One demonstrator warned that rising costs more generally also mean that “we can’t afford to feed anyone anymore.”
The price of everything has gone through the roof.
And in Wales, a major farming union is using the two-day Royal Welsh Winter Fair as an opportunity to highlight the “severe consequences” of the tax for agricultural businesses. They say it is not too late for Chancellor Rachel Reeves to change her mind on the reform, prompting Farmers Weekly to stress that this is “a huge week for British farming.”
UK farmers are not alone in being pushed down by their own governments. In France, farmers earlier this month protested against President Emmanuel Macron’s remarks on the Mercosur trade agreement. And in Greece, farmers have demanded swifter compensation for losses from sheep and goat pox, which has seen over 400,000 animals slaughtered in recent months.
As well as nationwide protests on Monday, UK farmers expressed their concerns about this week’s budget announcements, including in Newcastle, in the northeast of England, where farmers and tractors alike branded the now well-known statement of fact:
No farmers, no food, no future.
Around 200 tractors and farmers rallied in Newcastle on Sunday, as concerns raise in the lead up the Budget 👊 🚜
Farmers will gather in Whitehall—that is, the home of the UK government—on Wednesday, too, on the day of the budget itself. Farmers Guardianreports that there will be “speakers, live sessions and organised arrivals” throughout the day.
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_.
