JCB employees show support for farmers
Employees from JCB’s farming businesses in Staffordshire were given a day off work to join Tuesday's rally in support of farmers affected by changes in inheritance tax.
Almost 40 employees boarded a 5am JCB coach to London with a host of other Staffordshire farmers for a rally in the Capital.
The group included employees of JCB Farms and Wootton Estates based at Wootton, Staffordshire, where JCB farms cereals, vegetables, beef, sheep and chickens organically.
JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford said: “We have been supplying farmers with machinery since the day JCB was founded in 1945, so what happens to our customers and the farming community is of great importance to us.
"We are very concerned that farmers should be prejudiced against in this way, but more than anything, it is crucial that food from Britain feeds our nation as not all the food we need can come from abroad. The planned changes pose a real threat to farmers, and to food production, as some small family farms quite simply won’t be able to find the money to pay inheritance tax.
“JCB is one of only two tractor manufacturers in Britain and the only British manufacturer of telescopic handlers, which are used on virtually every farm in this country, so food production is highly significant to the British people and it’s highly important to us as a business.”
James White, 25, who runs a livestock farm on almost 500 acres with his family, said: "We have been farmers for five generations since the time of my great-great grandfather Harry White and we live in the farmhouse that he occupied. In the event of having to pay inheritance tax we would have to sell some of the farm to foot the bill to keep the rest of the farm.
“That would be pretty hard to take because my dad and grandad have worked hard to buy the land they have got. The farm is a profitable business at the moment but we can’t sustain that if we are on a smaller acreage. Profits will decrease and it will make it harder for us, the younger generation, to take it on because we will have to stump up a lot of cash.
“I hope that attending this rally it will make the Government listen a little. I think the decision has been taken a little hastily without thinking about the implications for food production. It’s important for younger people like me to go to this rally so that we can get our point across.
Ted Hibbert, 27, and his twin brother Jack come from a four-generation family of farmers at Kedleston, near Derby, where they have an arable and sheep farm stretching over 1,200 acres. The brothers manage the broiler unit for Wootton Farms, where they manage 50,000 chickens.
Ted said: “It’s our hope in the future to take over our family farm which is why this issue is so important to us because farms the size of ours would have to sell a lot of land to cover the costs of inheritance tax. The policy makers don’t seem to understand the implications of what they are proposing. When assets are tied up in land, it’s going to be very difficult for people to pay the inheritance tax without selling land. I hope by having this rally it will overturn the decision over inheritance tax.
“Even with just 500 acres of land it would mean a massive tax bill and it would take a long time to pay it off. Farmers will be forced to sell assets and sell land, which will impact on food production in this country. When you produce food in this country you know the food is of a high quality and hasn’t for example been pumped with chemicals which are banned over here.
“If we want good quality produce you need it to come from this country and not from abroad. Pushing ahead with this policy on inheritance tax will stop that.”
Farmers returning from London on Tuesday said a mass lobby had been beneficial.
"We've had a very interesting day, attending both the rally and the lobby of MPs, where we managed to meet three of our five Shropshire MPs [Julia Buckley for Shrewsbury, Helen Morgan for North Shropshire and Stuart Anderson for South Shropshire]," said Ludlow farmer Graham Price.
"Our hope is that the number of people and the passion shown will help the government realise their plans on Inheritance Tax need amending.
"We feel that [Labour] have come to this problem by using the wrong data."
He said he feared that very small farms - "pony paddocks" - were being included in the government's financial analysis and "skewing" the figures being used by the Treasury.
"As farming businesses we don't think it will achieve what they're trying to do. They're trying to target the very, very large farms... but small farms are being caught in the crossfire as unintended targets.
"What we would be happy to accept would be an increase in tax on production, rather than a tax on assets after an unfortunate death in the family."
Asked about the general mood on the bus home, Mr Price said it was "optimistic".
"We farmers are always optimistic, aren't we? We've been to see our MPs and I think there is certainly a little bit of positivity that that the MPs have listened to us."