Dougy Harper (left) and Monty Atkinson both 12 during a farmers protest in Whitehall, London, over t (Image: Westminster)
Ministers will be forced to U-turn on their inheritance tax raid when the human impact becomes clear, the boss of a farming union has warned. Thousands of food producers marched through London on Tuesday to protest against Rachel Reeves’s October Budget.
Tom Bradshaw, the President of the National Farmers Union, said: “I don’t believe Sir or Rachel Reeves can live with the policy as it is today.
“I genuinely believe that when we see those human impacts really playing out in months to come, I don’t believe any Prime Minister can have that on his head. To me, if they’re human, they will have to make those changes we’re asking for. If they’re not, then it becomes a much bigger concern.
“I worry we haven’t met the Chancellor but she’s not even meeting her backbenchers. At the moment, she’s absolutely locked down on this policy. She clearly thinks we’ll go away. What we’re seeing here today is that the industry won’t go away.”
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Farmers brought combine harvesters and tractors worth around £2million to the “Pancake Day Rally” to highlight the equipment needed to make the on Shrove Tuesday.
Reform UK leader : “It’s pancake day. It’s all about food security and food production. The farmers are making a point that it actually costs money to produce the content of a pancake but it’s obviously part of a much bigger campaign which isn’t just about farmers anymore. It’s becoming bigger than that.
“It’s becoming about the rural communities and the impositions which are being put upon them. There’s a complete lack of comprehension about who they are and how they live from central government. It’s very much from an urbanised Labour Party that almost has no connection with the countryside.”
Cousins Monty and Doug, both 12, joined the protest to “stand up against the family farm tax. The third generation arable farmers, from Banbury, said the Chancellor’s inheritance tax changes would “massively impact us”.
The Chancellor in October announced that from April 2026, combined agricultural and business property assets up to £1 million will still receive 100% relief but anything above that will be taxed at an effective rate of 20%.
The Daily Express’s Save Britain’s Family Farms crusade has demanded a U-turn.
Ministers rejected farmers’ concerns over inheritance tax changes and insisted the reforms are a “fair way to raise money”.
Treasury Minister James Murray said he spent time meeting with farmers’ representatives and listening to their concerns, telling the Commons: “We have to be honest that we disagree.”
He added: “As I’ve made clear to other MPs, the changes to agricultural property relief are a fair way to raise money which is necessary to balance the public finances. Britain has excellent food security and that is a priority for this Government.”
A Government spokeswoman said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast.
“This Government will invest £5 billion into farming over the next two years, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history. We are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.
“Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs will mean farmers will pay a reduced inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% for other businesses, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates a year.”
By Victoria Vyvyan, President of the Country Land and Business Association
Today, farmers took to the streets of London, not because they wanted to, but because the government left them no choice.
For months, we have warned that changes to inheritance tax will devastate Britain’s family farms. We’ve laid out, in black and white, how the Treasury’s plan will hit farming families with tax bills so big they’ll have to sell land to survive. We’ve offered a fair alternative – one that protects real farmers while closing loopholes.
The government’s response? Silence.
The Treasury won’t say why they’re pushing ahead with a policy that could wipe out thousands of farms. They won’t explain how farmers are supposed to keep land when the tax bill is bigger than a decade’s profits.
They won’t even pretend to care. They think this problem will disappear. It won’t.
The farmers who marched yesterday weren’t protesting for sport. They were there because their way of life is being pulled from under them.
This isn’t about stately homes and trust funds – it’s about families who have worked the same land for generations, feeding Britain. Yet some still believe they’re sitting on piles of cash. They’re not. Most farmers are asset-rich, cash-poor, working land they can’t afford to lose.
But when inheritance tax lands, they won’t have a choice. There’s no savings to dip into – only land to sell. Farms that have passed from parent to child for centuries will be gone, not to another farmer, but to
the highest bidder. And for the next generation – the sons and daughters who grew up understanding they would one day take over – it means something worse. Their future, gone.
We proposed a ‘clawback’ option, one that keeps reliefs for farmers while ensuring those who sell land shortly after inheriting it pay their fair share. A win-win solution. The Treasury didn’t even look at it.
The CLA has put a solution on the table. Farmers have done all they can. The only ones refusing to act are those in power.
After today, they can’t claim they didn’t hear. Now we’ll see if they’re listening.