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I joined 10,000 farmers on a march in Westminster- Here’s what they had to say


Farmers protest in central London over the changes to inheritance tax (IHT) rules in the recent budget which introduce new taxes on farms worth more than ?1 million. Picture date: Tuesday November 19, 2024. PA Photo. Farmers have reacted over the inheritance tax changes for farming businesses, which limit the 100% relief for farms to only the first ?1 million of combined agricultural and business property. For anything above that, landowners will pay a 20% tax rate, rather than the standard 40% rate of inheritance tax (IHT) applied to other land and property. PA Photo. Photo credit should read: James Manning/PA Wire

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‘It’s complete rubbish’ says Liz Harrison, a dairy farmer from Yorkshire. ‘We’re going to be heavily impacted by this tax. Rachel Reeves says only 500 people are going to be affected by it, but they have idea about the input value of farming- the machinery, the cost of seed, the fertiliser, chemistry, let alone the soil and the land value.

‘This is a tax which is hitting elderly generations the most, and until October 30th it was absolutely fine for the elder generation to hold land….but she made it virtually impossible overnight for the handing out of family farms.’

She added: ‘We are not political animals at all. We do not want to be stood in London campaigning for our industry.

‘Yet, here we are doing that, and it’s all due to Starmer, Rachel Reeves not listening to farmers.

Protesters were extremely unhappy at Keir Starmer (Picture: Tom Sanders)

‘This is not just about APR, it’s about the whole food security on an island nation. They haven’t looked at the data. They didn’t consult. And what they’re doing is really quite dangerous.’

Over 10,000 people gathered outside Westmister today, for a rally which included speakers such as Jeremy Clarkson, Nigel Farage and Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch.

Addressing the crowds, Clarkson slammed Keir Starmer and his ‘infernal’ government, and in a direct appeal to lawmakers, said: ‘I beg of the Government to be big – to accept this was rushed through, it wasn’t thought through and it was a mistake.’

Today’s rally was not a party political protest- many claimed they were usually apolitical, didn’t vote or didn’t lean strongly in favour of any one party.

Farm worker Harry (L) said the farming community were one big family who would stick together

Around 10,000 attended the protest in Westminster (Picture: Tom Sanders)

But if there was one overarching theme of the day’s gathering, it was a deep sense of anger and betrayal at the current Labour government. Signs reading ‘Keir Starmer the Farmer Harmer’ were impossible to avoid, as were repeated attacks on ‘Rachel Thieves’

‘I really had a lot iof faith in this government coming in and turning this around, and all we’ve got is bitterness,’ said Andrew Booth, a farmer and former Labour Party member from Dorset. ‘It’s a complete betrayal of our industry and I hope they get a proper smacking for this.’

‘The b******s just don’t really like us do they?’ said Simon Orson, a farmer from Melton Mowbray. ‘We don’t tend to vote Labour so they see us as easy pickings, it’s as easy as that.’

What many seemed keen to impress was the disparity between farmer’s assets and material wealth, which they say Labour had deliberately misinterpreted in order to downplay the level of farm it would infliuct on their industry.

Simon Orston (Centre-R) says his 300-year-old farm could be wiped out by the new rules (Picture: Tom Sanders)

‘It’s the old adage- farmers are asset rich but cash …read more

Source:: Metro

      

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