'A whole generation of rural Britain will not trust or vote for Keir Starmer ever again' over Budget - Shropshire farmer
Farmers across the region have 'never been so angry' according to West Midlands agricultural figures as they called on the government to reconsider its stance over tax measures.
Labour is caught up in a wave of criticism over its announcement that agricultural assets worth more than £1 million would no longer be exempt from Inheritance Tax.
Under plans announced in the Budget, Inheritance Tax will be charged at 20 per cent on agricultural assets above £1 million, including livestock, farmhouses, sheds and machinery, although Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that in some cases the threshold could in practice be about £3 million.
The decision, described by some as 'disastrous' and a 'death knell', has already sparked fury and warnings it will kill off farms that have been in families for generations, as well as risking national food security.
The NFU has organised a mass lobby, set for November 19, where farmers will meet with their MPs in Parliament, urging them to ask for changes to Agriculture Property Relief and Business Property Relief, announced in the Budget, to be overturned.
The tax move has caused a considerable backlash from farming and countryside communities, and led to a dispute over just how many farms and farm businesses would be affected.
Farmers gathered outside the Northern Farming Conference in Hexham, Northumberland, on Wednesday, where speakers were due to include Environment Minister Daniel Zeichner.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said he had never seen “the weight of support, the strength of feeling” over the plans and added that many farmers wanted to be “militant” over the issue.
The government has said it understands the concerns about changes to agricultural property relief but "the majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes".
Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds claimed that only 500 farms will be impacted by the change. He told MPs: “I do think on a lot of the analysis – certainly on the Conservative Party’s analysis – what they forgot to do is aggregate the impact of the changes to those allowances on agricultural property relief, alongside the existing nil rate band and the ability to transfer those allowances between spouses in all cases.
"So, actually, if you look at the number, the total number across the UK of farms that would have been affected by this change, it’s only 500 - yes, it’s 500 for the 2026/27 financial year. And I think that has been missed.”
Bridgnorth farmer Richard Yates said the Budget moves had already resulted in a loss of trust among rural communities with regards to the Labour government and he warned they had underestimated the strength of feeling.
"Our understanding from our conversations with Labour was they weren't going to go into APR," he said. "We implored on them the consequences of them altering it and they have ignored that advice and we feel seriously let down.
"There is a whole generation of rural Britain which will not trust or vote for Keir Starmer ever again. It has potentially serious consequences for farmers.
"We are operating on a knife-edge and we have barely recovered from Covid and the effects of the Ukrainian invasion.
"Many people are operating on a one per cent return on capital invested and when Rachel Reeves says 'invest, invest, invest,' I'd remind her the average age of a British farmer is 59. Why would we take the plunge and invest at that age and spend when we now risk being taxed to the hilt, a 20 per cent tax bill upon death?
"It doesn't encourage us, or incentivise us to invest and that's what we need. I have never experienced farmers to be so angry. The government has seriously underestimated how wrong they have got their Budget."
Mr Yates said that November 19's lobby would be the first step to making the strength of feeling known.
"We have implored on the government how essential it is to have a reliable, trusted food supply," he said.
"We need a plan for what the next five years hold for British agriculture. All we see at the moment is plans to take land out of production. Do they want us or not?
"I was hoping, with a new government, we could wipe the slate clean and they would embody us to invest in our farms but that trust vanished with the Budget.
"We have been resilient in the past, dealing with Foot and Mouth and major traumas that have impacted our industry but it feels like we have been punched from all sides.
"There are grave concerns about this latest decision and its impact of agriculture and we are attempting to overturn it. If it doesn't succeed, there will be more action."
"We will try negotiation and we must leave the government under no illusions as to how much they have let the farming industry down. Further down the line, our vets, people working in machinery, the agronomists, they all suffer on the back of us suffering."
