Watch: 'No farmers, no food' - Angry Shropshire farmers stage protest outside Telford council offices

Farmers from across Shropshire rode their tractors along Lawn Central outside Telford & Wrekin Council's base for more than an hour and a half today (March 24).

Organised by the Farmers to Action campaign group, the demonstration was one of several around the UK in a 'day of action' against the Labour Government's plans.

Farmers have expressed their outrage at the Government's planned changes to inheritance tax and controversial decision to scrap a farming payment scheme.

The Government recently announced that it will stop accepting new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme which pays farmers to adopt and maintain farming practices that help to produce food sustainably and protect the environment.

Shropshire farmers tooted their horns and displayed messages from their tractors, labelling the Government's moves as a threat to national food security and economic stability.

Banners read 'Britain needs food security' and called on the Government to 'abolish inheritance tax'.

But, one overall message was clear - 'no farmers, no food'.

Alan Hughes from Leintwardine organised the protest. The fourth generation farmer in his family said he has asked to meet with councillors and that protests will continue in the coming months.

He said: "This inheritance death tax is going to drive up the cost of food and force farmers out of business at a time when they are poking the Russian bear and it is looking more like war is looming. They are reducing our national food security.

"They need to back British farmers and get the food prices sustainable for us and the public so people can afford to buy nutritious and healthy food at affordable prices. They need to stop these supermarkets making millions off us each year at the expense of everybody else. 

"We feel betrayed. The Government told us at the NFU Conference in January 2024 that farming is like no other business and that when it is gone, it is gone. They said they wouldn't increase inheritance tax and give more support.

"What have they done? They have cancelled applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme and are putting us all out of business. At the same time they are increasing taxes on growing food here but putting no price increase on imports. They are targeting the farmers because they want to make money.

"We are going to keep escalating. We are going to be doing this at least monthly, if not then several times a month."

Under proposals by the Government, 20 per cent of inheritance tax would be charged on estates with business and agricultural assets worth more than £1 million.

Henry Jones, 18, from Westbury near Minsterley was born into farming. He said he gets up at 5.30am, sometimes earlier, to start work on his family farm and will typically finish just before 7pm.

The 18-year-old is the 14th generation to work on his family's farm, and said he could be the last.

"We are protesting about the inheritance tax that the Government has brought in," he said. "We won't be able to afford it and it will ruin British agriculture. 

"I am the 14th generation of my family at the farm and it is a legacy that my family has built up over time. I am hoping to take it over but with this inheritance tax I won't be able to."

James Thompson travelled to the rally from his farm near Bridgnorth and expressed his dismay. 

"We cannot afford the inheritance tax bill," he added. "We are trying to get people to tell Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves that they have got their sums wrong. There is a better way of doing it and a more profitable way of doing it. 

"It makes me sad, disappointed and angry. My father was a farmer, I am a farmer, my son wants to be a farmer, but he is questioning it now. We can't afford the 20 per cent inheritance tax.

"Since the budget we have been bashed constantly. You name it, there is nothing left, we have had four days without being bashed and I am starting to feel quite good about it.

"We will keep protesting and I think it could get a lot more exciting."

Meanwhile, Leonie Thorburn, 35, is raising two children and 'future farmers' who she says would be the fifth generation to work her family's land.

She lives and works on a 175 acre mixed beef and sheep farm which is owned by her partner David's father.

Leonie said they have "poured everything" they have back into the farm and fears for the future. 

The 35-year-old added: "The Government promised the agricultural sector and the public, that this tax change would only affect a small number of the largest farms, but due to ever increasing land prices, livestock and machinery values, we will be very much above the threshold and staring down the barrel of an enormous tax bill, which we will not have the ability to pay, unless we sell the farm.

"The job of a farmer is challenging - physically, mentally and financially - but it is also our part of heritage and runs through our veins, so we carry on regardless for nothing but love, knowing we are leaving something for future generations and the pride that comes with being the temporary custodian of the land. 

"This Government is the biggest threat to farming we have seen in generations and now is the time to stand together. It is now up to us and the public to force them into recognising the damage they will cause to the rural landscape. I am and will continue to advocate for our industry with Farmers to Action and together because if the Government fail to prioritise the agricultural sector and its contribution Britain now, then they risk sleep walking the nation into future food shortages."