Opposition growing to family farm tax ahead of major protest in London

Opposition to Rachel Reeves’ family farm tax raid is growing ahead of a second major demonstration in London planned for Wednesday.

North Northamptonshire Council (NNC) has become the fourth local authority to publicly oppose the chancellor changes to inheritance tax rules for farms announced in the Autumn Budget. The East Midlands council has joined Cornwall, Buckinghamshire and Staffordshire Moorlands in backing the protesters.

It comes as scores of tractors are expected to descend on Westminster on Wednesday as angry farmers continue to ratchet up the pressure over tax changes they believe will destroy family farms in the UK by forcing them to be sold off or broken up.

Already farmers in north Wales have blocked the port at Angelsey in protest on a number of occasions.

The changes mean that farms worth £1 million or more will be subject to a 20 per cent inheritance tax - half the usual death duty rate of 40 per cent - having previously been exempt.

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Ms Reeves and environment secretary Steve Reed have insisted that the changes are “fair and proportionate” and will only affect 28 per cent of farms. They have been brought in because wealthy figures like the entrepreneur James Dyson and the TV personality Jeremy Clarkson have invested in farms to bypass inheritance tax.

The government insists that farms with more than one owner and using normal inheritance tax allowances means in reality only estates valued at £3 million will be taxed under the new scheme.

However, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has claimed that Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affars (Defra) figures suggest that as many as 66 per cent of farms could be dragged into paying the tax. Defra have said that it is a misinterpretation of the figures by the NFU.

Speaking out against the changes after his council voted to oppose them, NNC leader Jason Smithers said: “It seems there’s a constant attack on parts of our society, private schools, businesses, old age pensioners. There’s something that you don’t like rich people, obviously.

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“Will Sir Keir Starmer fight for our hard-working farmers? Will this Labour group in front of us support this motion and stand shoulder to shoulder with our hard-working farmers?”

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs for the Countryside Alliance said: “We would like to thank the overwhelming number of councillors that backed this important motion. North Northamptonshire now adds its heavy weight to the growing list of councils opposing the family farm tax.

“The family farm remains the backbone of rural communities and they are also central to the public vision of the British countryside. Rachel Reeves should listen to the experts and reverse this policy before it’s too late”.

A government spokesperson said:“Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast – we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, including more money than ever for sustainable food production, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap, focusing on how to make the sector more profitable in the decades to come. “Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will impact around 500 estates a year. For these estates, inheritance tax will be at half the rate paid by others, with 10 years to pay the liability back interest free. This is a fair and balanced approach which fixes the public services we all rely on.”