Farmer Ben Aveling, 39, on his farm in Towcester, Northamptonshire (Image: Daily Express)
A farmer has warned that Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tax raid threatens Britain’s food security.
Father of three Ben Aveling, 39, described feeling “attacked” following the Chancellor’s October budget which heaped the levy on farmers.
He said: “At the end of the day, the farm will be here hopefully for my children and that’s what I’m fighting for personally. But my battle is for everybody.”
: “Farmers are resilient. We’re a resilient bunch and we always find a way through. Initially I felt quite attacked by it. As time has gone on, I feel like British farming is being attacked. Our food security is under threat. We’re only one lack of import, one and one war away from having no food shipped here. Imagine if we had no food here? It’s actually ridiculous.”
, in Litchborough, Towcester is on its third generation of the family, having been bought in 1937.
But its survival is threatened by Labour’s plans to impose 20% inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million.
Ben, who promotes farming on social media, said: “There’s a lot going on at the moment where people are using their children to say ‘don’t take my farm away’. As much as that’s gut-wrenching for myself and my family, that’s actually not the point.
“A lot of people out there don’t have farms to give to their children and do have a house that they have to pay inheritance tax on.
“For me, it wasn’t about ‘oh look at what my children are going to go without’, Selfishly, of course I feel that but that’s not my battle. My battle is this is going to stop farming. If we’re not careful, people will have to sell their farms. Even if some will need to sell part of it, it will leave the rest unviable.”
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Ben warned of the urgent need to avoid an increased dependency on foreign produce.
He said: “When we can make it here, it’s ridiculous that we’re going to try and out source it. We’re all going to suffer for this. It’s not about who owns what. The argument is muddying the waters of the very clear fact that no farmers means no food. It’s genuinely ridiculous.”
Ben, who owns some of the farm assets alongside his father-in-law, said the family has “luckily” planned ahead because it “might just save us”.
He added: If my father-in-law had not done that, we’d have a guaranteed thumping big bill if anyone died. We’re still likely going to be in the category of at least 20% depending.”
The Daily Express has campaigned for a Government U-turn through the Save Britain’s Family Farms Crusade.
The farmer suggested a solution to the inheritance tax issue would be to pay farmers adequately for the food they produce.
He added: “We just want to get paid enough for our food. My farm is paid subsidies but other farms historically haven’t. That’s not free money for farms. That’s the government subsidising your food. We’re getting paid a bit more because we’re having to sell it so cheap for the nation.”
“When people eat their food three times a day, they don’t even consider it’s been made on a farm. Our mission is to try to appeal to the hearts and minds of the public and show them that it’s not about us. I’m not trying to play a violin. I’m not trying to say you should prop up my family. It’s irrelevant. Everyone eats and we need food in this country.”
Farmer Ben Aveling, 39, on his farm in Towcester, Northamptonshire, on 5th February 2025. (Image: Paul Marriott)
“Farmers don’t get paid enough for their produce. So they can’t afford to pay the inheritance tax when it lands on our laps. The fact of the matter is that means farms will be sold to pay the tax bill unless we’re paid a fair price for our produce. Every farmer wants to pay their taxes. The fact of the matter is, if I had to pay inheritance tax, and I could afford to pay it, we pay enough other bills [so it’s not a problem]. It’s just another bill but the fact is farmers don’t have the capital and cash flow to pay it.”
Ben, who switched his farm shop to an online-only store amid financial pressures in 2023, worries that developers and renewable energy firms will buy the land sold because of Ms Reeves’s policy.
He said: “The only people wealthy enough to buy the farmland that you’re selling aren’t farmers. This is the problem. It’ll end up being solar farms or environmental farms not producing food. The reason Britain is what it is because of its fertile soil, great growing conditions, brilliant food and brilliant farms. That’s our history. That’s what we’re about and it’s just going to disappear. It’s a joke.”
The Environment Secretary last week reiterated the Government’s “cast-iron commitment” to food production.
He said: “The prize of this is to strengthen rather than weaken food production.”
Mr Reed tried to reassure landowners and farmers that the Government “won’t tell anyone what to do with their land but help them take better decisions” following the publication of its Land Use Framework.