Farmers are gathering at protests across the UK as they step up their campaign against the Government’s inheritance tax reforms – which they say would “decimate” the country’s agricultural sector.
The National Farmers Union (NFU) is staging a series of events on Saturday as part of a so-called National Day of Unity, with farmers bringing food, tractors and livestock to town centres across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The events take place after a petition signed by more than 270,000 members of the public was handed in to 10 Downing Street on Friday by NFU president Tom Bradshaw and NFU Cymru president Aled Jones, urging the Government to ditch what they described as the “devastating family farm tax”.
Rachel Hallos, a livestock farmer from the South Pennines and the vice president of the NFU, said she hoped the events will “raise awareness” of the impact of the planned reforms to inheritance tax for farming businesses, and push the Government to review its decision.
Speaking on her way to an event in Chester, Cheshire, Ms Hallos said: “The inheritance tax changes from the Budget will ultimately decimate what we’ve currently got in this country, and we’re really worried about it.
“Today is about telling people why we are so concerned, trying to explain how complicated the food supply chain is, because it really is, and that farmers are at the beginning of that food supply chain.
“We completely appreciate that a lot of members of the general public will say, ‘Oh for goodness sake, you’re alright in your big farmhouses, all this lamb that you own…’
“But the reality is, those are our assets, we never sell them.
“So it’s complicated, and we’re just trying to shed a light on it for some members of the public who don’t quite understand why we’re making so much noise about this.”
She added: “We genuinely don’t believe that the Government understands the complexity of what it is that happens in the countryside and how entwined all those rural businesses are.
“They all rely on each other.
“It’s a little bit like a deck of cards – if you pull one of those cards out, the whole thing comes tumbling down.
“And the fact that the entire industry has come together with such strength and such clarity, and for the Government to disregard that and not want to sit at the table and talk about this is quite remarkable.
“Food and environment just doesn’t seem to be important to this Government.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw (@ProagriLtd) is in Cambridge today – just one of many events across the UK bringing together farmers to thank the public for supporting the #StoptheFamilyFarmTax campaign. pic.twitter.com/dNT2rRcvRS
— National Farmers' Union (@NFUtweets) January 25, 2025
Referring to the petition handed in to 10 Downing Street on Friday, Ms Hallos said: “We’ve already seen huge public support.
“We want to grow that support with our customers, because these are our customers, and hopefully the Government finally realises that they need to sit down and have a conversation with us.
“Let’s work this out between us – let’s find out what to do, what to achieve out of this, and we’ll help them achieve that without causing that disaster to the food supply chain.”
A spokesperson for the NFU said Saturday’s events, in places including Cambridge, Warwick and Selby in North Yorkshire, were about “visibility”.
The spokesperson said: “It’s about going out to the public in the town centres and thanking them for their support, encouraging them to keep supporting farming.
“The visibility is about a reminder that the problem is still there.”
They added: “We want the chance to meet and discuss, and review the decisions that she (Chancellor Rachel Reeves) has made.”
In Northern Ireland, seven protest runs took place across all six counties, organised by the Ulster Farmers Union (UFU), including two in Co Down.
Lines of tractors arrived at the site of the former Maze Prison to take part in the two Co Down routes, many bearing posters which read Save Our Family Farms and UFU flags.
Speaking to the PA news agency at the Maze site, UFU chief executive Wesley Aston said the new rules the Government is proposing on inheritance tax will mean huge bills for the next generation of farmers, which will risk the viability of family farms in the future.
“This is another step to highlight the concern we have and let the general public know how impactful this will be, not only to farmers but food security going forward,” he said.
“We are doing our bit in Northern Ireland but this is part of a UK-wide activity and plan of action so that the Government will actually start engaging with us as farmers to look at this issue.”
A Government spokesperson 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 Relief will mean estates will pay a reduced effective inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than standard 40%, 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.”
