Farmers have warned that Britain’s farming industry faces a “ticking time bomb” as they staged a last-ditch tractor rally ahead of next week’s Budget, urging Prime Minister Andy Burnham to scrap the controversial inheritance tax raid.
Under the policy, farms worth more than £2.5 million face inheritance tax bills that critics warn could force generations of farming families to sell off land simply to pay the taxman. Campaigners warn the tax raid could wipe out family farms that have been passed down through generations.
Tractor Rally in Berkshire
Speaking to the Daily Express at Newbury Showground, where nearly 100 tractors gathered in protest, arable farmer and organiser Dan Willis, 52, from Newbury, demanded the changes be scrapped entirely. He said: “Absolutely, it needs to be done away with. It’s an unfair tax.”
Willis, who farms in partnership with his mother in her 80s, added: “There’s a lot of farmers here who are extremely worried about their futures. My farm, I’m fifth generation, I farm in partnership with my mother in her 80s. I’m sat with a ticking time bomb in some respects and it’s an unsurvivable one for me.”
He continued: “We have spent an inordinate amount of money on the best advice to be tax efficient. However, at the end of the day I would have to sell the farm to enable me to pay the bill.”
Political Pressure Mounts
Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said of Labour: “They have one last chance to admit their mistake and to do the right thing and axe this tax in full.” She added: “They have got to acknowledge the mistake they made two years ago by bringing in this vindictive death tax on family farms and family businesses. They’ve got to axe the family farm tax, they’ve got to axe the family business tax, and also an apology to the wider farming community and business community that they got it wrong and they must do right by them.”
Atkins said the inheritance tax changes, which the Conservatives have vowed to reverse, have had a devastating impact on farmers. She noted: “There’s not just an enormous business cost to this. We know that farmers are no longer investing in their farms because why would they if they’re just going to hand them over to whoever is the Labour Chancellor, but there are some terribly sad and very serious emotional tolls that this tax has taken as well.”
She also praised the Daily Express’s Save Britain’s Family Farm crusade, saying: “I would like to take the opportunity to thank the Express because you’ve been brilliant in supporting this campaign.”
Background and Next Steps
Then-Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her 2024 budget to announce that farms, previously exempt from inheritance tax, would face a 20% rate above a £1 million threshold amid a black hole in the public finances. The measure sparked fury from farmers who have staged a series of major protests in London. They argue that while farms may appear rich on paper due to the value of land and machinery, they tend to be cash-poor.
Concerns have also been raised about the UK’s food security amid growing global tensions, and there have been reports of desperate farmers pushed to the brink of suicide due to the policy. The backlash led to then-Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer raising the threshold to £2.5 million last December. Hopes have been raised that Mr Burnham could go further in next Wednesday’s Budget as he looks to repair ties with the countryside. He has faced pressure from some Labour politicians, with Lord Blunkett last month branding the tax raid “a mistake”. Rural Labour MP Markus Campbell-Savours has called for the policy to be completely abandoned.
A government spokesperson said: “We value our hardworking farmers and recognise the pressures they are under. We listened to farmers and raised the relief threshold to £2.5 million to protect smaller family farms and businesses, while ensuring the largest estates make a fair contribution.”
