The Metropolitan Police have said tractor drivers who ploughed through barriers at the farmers’ protest in Westminster will be reported.
Scotland Yard said that they had been engaging with those driving the vehicles but said that driving through a no entry sign was “not acceptable”.
Taking to the stage, Jeremy Clarkson urged Rachel Reeves to admit her proposed inheritance tax hikes for farmers was a “mistake”, as he described it as a “hammer blow” to the agricultural community.
Speaking to protesters on stage in Whitehall, the TV presenter said: “For the sake of everybody here, and all the farmers stuck at home today paralysed by a fog of despair by what’s been foisted upon them, I beg the government to accept this was rushed through, wasn’t thought out, and was a mistake.”
First unveiled in chancellor Rachel Reeves’s Budget, the plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m have sparked fury among rural communities, who have contested the government’s assertion that small family farms will not be impacted by the changes.
National Farmers’ Union president Tom Bradshaw said an estimated 75 per cent of commercial farm businesses “were caught in the eye of this storm” of a policy which will “rip the heart of family farms”.
Key Points
- Farmers who ploughed through barriers in tractors to be reported
- Jeremy Clarkson urges government to admit ‘mistake’ and back down
- Starmer responds to farmer protests from G20 summit
- Why are farm owners demonstrating over inheritance tax?
‘A huge kick in the teeth’: On the NFU battle bus as furious farmers come face-to-face with MPs over tax raid
00:01 , Athena StavrouAt 5.30am, as farmers climbed aboard an NFU bus in Cirencester, Alex Ross joined them in the biggest battle for the industry in years:
On the NFU battle bus as farmers take their fight over Labour’s tax raid to MPs
Farming body estimates 70,000 farms to be affected
Tuesday 19 November 2024 23:27 , Athena StavrouThe Country Land and Business Association (CLA) estimates that 70,000 farms – all those of 50 hectares or more, with a value of more than £1 million – will be affected by the inheritance tax change over time, around a third of the UK total.
CLA president Victoria Vyvyan said: “Protesters have every right to be angry; the Government has lied about the impact on their livelihoods.
”Ministers claim the inheritance tax cap hits only the rich, but it could put 70,000 farms — big and small — at risk. All will be questioning their future, and whether they’ll have one to pass on.
“Farmers shouldn’t need to be marching to London; ministers should be marching to them.
“They need to understand the real damage and fix it before they destroy confidence in the rural economy.”
Jeremy Clarkson claps back at Victoria Derbyshire over farm protest question: ‘Classic BBC’
Tuesday 19 November 2024 23:09 , Athena StavrouJeremy Clarkson has hit back at Victoria Derbyshire after she questioned if he bought his Diddly Squat farm to avoid inheritance tax.
The former Grand Tour and Top Gear host told the BBC presenter that he was at Whitehall “to support farmers”.
“So it’s not about your farm and the fact that you bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax?” the Newsnight host asked.
Clarkson hit back, “Classic BBC” but Derbyshire referred to a Sunday Times interview in which the TV personality said that avoiding inheritance tax was “critical” to his decision to buy the farm.
“You told the Sunday Times in 2021 that was why you bought it,” she said.
Read the full story here:
Jeremy Clarkson claps back at Victoria Derbyshire over farm protest question
‘I’m not going to get into the business of commenting on what Jeremy Clarkson says,’ - Starmer
Tuesday 19 November 2024 23:01 , Athena StavrouSir Keir Starmer declined to say whether Jeremy Clarkson had spread misinformation by claiming 96% of farmers will be affected by inheritance tax changes.
“I’m not going to get into the business of commenting on what Jeremy Clarkson says,” the Prime Minister told a press conference when asked if the TV presenter had spread misinformation.
“I think the facts speak for themselves.
“As I’ve said on a number of occasions, for a typical family wanting to pass on through the family which is… completely understood, then with all the allowances in place, if they pass onto a child it’s a £3 million threshold.
“All of you can check out what that means in terms of the impact, I think the BBC has already done it.
“But it means that the vast majority of farms are unaffected by this.”
Starmer insists ‘vast majority’ of farmers not to be affected by inheritance tax
Tuesday 19 November 2024 22:25 , Athena StavrouSir Keir Starmer has said he is “very confident” that the “vast majority” of farmers will not be affected by changes to inheritance tax.
Speaking at a press conference at the G20 in Brazil, the Prime Minister said: “Firstly, £5 billion was set aside in the Budget over the next two years for farming.
“That is the single-biggest amount of money into farming and sustainable food production that has ever been set aside in any Budget, ever. So that’s a real statement of intent in terms of supporting farmers.
“There’s also money to deal with flooding, which is a huge problem for farmers, and money to deal with the outbreak of disease, which can be catastrophic for farmers if they lose their livestock.
“On the question of inheritance tax, the example I’ve given is a typical example of parents wanting to pass on a farm to one of their children, and in those cases, when you look at all the thresholds available, that means that only farms over the value of £3 million will be affected by the changes, and therefore the vast majority of farms will be unaffected, and those that are affected will only pay half the inheritance tax that other people pay- 20% – and they will have a 10-year period over which to pay it.
“And so that’s why I’m very confident in saying that the vast majority will not be affected. How farmers then arrange their affairs within their family is obviously a matter for them.”
Premium: The last thing the farmers needed was Clarkson and Farage in cosplay
Tuesday 19 November 2024 22:11 , Athena StavrouBarbour jackets, flat caps and spotless wellies – and that was just the celebs (and shadow cabinet). From the mucky field of the farmers’ protest, Joe Murphy sends his dispatch:
The last thing the farmers needed was Clarkson and Farage in cosplay
Peer urges PM to ‘step outside’ and speak to farmers
Tuesday 19 November 2024 21:48 , Athena StavrouA housing and local government minister was urged to “step outside” and speak to farmers protesting in Westminster about the impact of changes to their inheritance tax.
During a discussion in the House of Lords about council tax referendum thresholds, Conservative peer Viscount Hailsham said: “Given that the Government remains committed to the idea that public opinion should be tested before an excessive council tax is levied, would it not be consistent for the minister to step outside and ask farmers how they react to the imposition of inheritance tax on agricultural land, which they were promised wouldn’t happen and which manifestly has an excessive impact on agricultural values and their business?”
Jeremy Clarkson claps back at Victoria Derbyshire over farm protest question: ‘Classic BBC’
Tuesday 19 November 2024 21:01 , Holly EvansJeremy Clarkson has hit back at Victoria Derbyshire after she questioned if he bought his Diddly Squat farm to avoid inheritance tax.
The Clarkson’s Farm star was spotted at the farmers’ protests in London on Tuesday (19 November), as he arrived with his production crew and series co-stars Kaleb Cooper and Charlie Ireland.
It’s estimated that between 10,000 and 40,000 people are protesting against the Labour government’s proposed inheritance tax hikes, which Clarkson has said could be “the end” for farmers.
Read the full article here:
Jeremy Clarkson claps back at Victoria Derbyshire over farm protest question
Robert Jenrick poses under ‘Starmer the farmer harmer’ sign at ‘tractor tax’ protest
Tuesday 19 November 2024 20:30 , Holly Evans
Robert Jenrick poses under ‘Starmer the farmer harmer’ sign at ‘tractor tax’ protest
Jeremy Clarkson’s production crew spotted at farmers’ protest
Tuesday 19 November 2024 20:00 , Holly EvansClarkson’s Farm fans could be given a political glimpse into farming life in season five, as it’s reported that the Amazon crew filming Jeremy Clarkson’s appearance at the farmers’ protest in Westminster.
The production crew are capturing the former Top Gear host and some of his Clarkson’s Farm co-stars at the demonstration on Tuesday for the show’s forthcoming season, according to Deadline.
It’s estimated that between 10,000 and 40,000 people are protesting against the Labour government’s proposed inheritance tax hikes, which Clarkson has said could be “the end” for farmers.
Read the full article here:
Jeremy Clarkson’s production crew spotted at farmers’ protest
Watch: Farmers drive through London with their tractors
Tuesday 19 November 2024 19:30 , Holly EvansRachel Reeves’s flawed inheritance tax for farmers demands a rethink
Tuesday 19 November 2024 19:00 , Holly EvansAfter revealing £40bn of tax rises on business and the better-off in last month’s Budget, Rachel Reeves could – just about – argue that “working people” had not been directly affected.
But anyone in the government who thought her decision to impose inheritance tax on some family farms would be without consequences needs to think again.
It is increasingly obvious that the chancellor was unwise to include farmers on her hit list by announcing that, from April 2026, agricultural estates worth more than £1m will face an effective 20 per cent rate of inheritance tax – half the usual 40 per cent rate.
Read the full editorial here:
Rachel Reeves’s flawed inheritance tax for farmers demands a rethink
NFU chief accuses Reeves of failing to engage with farmers
Tuesday 19 November 2024 18:35 , Holly EvansIndustry leaders have accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of refusing to engage over the issue.
Speaking to journalists in Westminster, National Farming Union president Tom Bradshaw said: “The longer they leave this hanging, the more I start to think it’s vindictive, rather than miscalculated.”
But ministers have argued the revenue is needed to help fix public services and plug a £22 billion fiscal “black hole” left behind by their Tory predecessors which they say only became apparent after they entered government.
The IFS, which has been calling for reforms to inheritance tax, backed the Government’s measures.
David Sturrock, senior research economist at the think tank, said: “If we have an inheritance tax it should apply equally across all types of assets.
“Exemptions and reliefs cause unfairness and distort ownership and investment in undesirable ways.
“Inheritance tax relief for agricultural and business assets provides a tax incentive for wealth to be held in these forms and for land to be used for agricultural purposes by those who want to pass on wealth to their heirs.”
Reeves says farmers must help fund NHS as she refuses to back down ahead of mass protest
Tuesday 19 November 2024 18:00 , Holly EvansRachel Reeves has refused to back down over the planned extension of inheritance tax to agricultural properties, telling farmers they must pay their share to fund public services including the NHS.
Her remarks come despite thousands of farmers descend on London for a major protest on Tuesday, held alongside a mass lobby of MPs in Westminster where National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw is expected to say that the betrayal on the tax changes is extraordinary.
The union chief will warn that farms producing the country’s food will need to be broken up and sold as a result of the policy, “because farmers simply won’t have the money to pay this tax any other way”.
Read the full article here:
Reeves says farmers must help fund NHS ahead of mass protest
In pictures: Today’s farmer protests in Westminster
Tuesday 19 November 2024 17:30 , Holly Evans
'I'm too hyperactive to work in an office' Young farmer's fear for future
Tuesday 19 November 2024 17:15 , Barney DavisLucy Harding, a fifth-generation dairy farm in Somerset, told The Independent: “A lot of us don’t make money we do it because they enjoy feeding the nation. We have no money and we will have to sell up with this tax.
“So many people have had to sell their livestock that they love and care about even before all this.
“There have already been so many suicides and there could be more. Farmers aren’t good at talking about their feelings.”
Asked if she could work in an office if her family were forced to sell up, she said: “I’m bred to be a farmer like how a breeding cow is bred to breed.
“I’m too hyperactive I genuinely don’t know what else I could do. The future is shady with all the regulations, all the other countries like New Zealand we have to compete with don’t have the same standards and can then undercut us.”
For born farmers like us it’s not about the value of the land, it’s about the legacy
Tuesday 19 November 2024 17:00 , Holly EvansMy Dad could remember my granny tucking him into bed during the Second World War and saying: “There you are. Your tummy is full, you are warm in bed with a roof over your head. There is no more that I can do for you.”
In that war, this country relied on Atlantic convoys to bring in food which was not available. “Dig for Victory” was the saying as everyone started to grow vegetables at home.
This was the time that my Dad was taken out of school, at the age of eight, to help with the harvest, and when the government learned the importance of food security.
A lot of people wouldn’t get out of bed for the money we make. We’re born farmers. It isn’t about the value of the land; it is about legacy. When my Dad died in 2021, he believed that the farm would be passed to the next generation. His reward for a lifetime of hard work and investment would be the opportunity for his grandson and those beyond to continue and build.
Read letters from our readers here:
For born farmers it’s not about the value of the land, but the legacy
Farmers may evolve tactics to get message heard
Tuesday 19 November 2024 16:45 , Barney DavisAfter the peaceful march on Whitehall some farmers were unsure as to what effect it would have on the Government.
Asked if their tactics have to evolve to get their message heard, one female dairy farmer from Essex said: “We see France and Germany and how effective they are. Their farmers get stuff done. I don’t think we’re there yet.”
Other farmers spoke glowingly of tactics employed by groups like Just Stop Oil to get attention.
One said: “If you go back in history you see the farmer’s revolt coming to London with their pitchforks and axes and all that.But that’s not the way it is anymore.
“Just Stop Oil everyone hates them. They are tiny - under one percent of population but they get so much attention.”
Clarkson’s Farm stars show support for ‘tractor tax’ protest
Tuesday 19 November 2024 16:19 , Holly EvansHow out of pocket will farmers actually be?
Tuesday 19 November 2024 16:04 , Holly EvansThe government wants farmers to pay the tax on assets above £1m apiece at a new rate of 20 per cent - less than the 40 per cent most others will pay. Yet before the Budget, they paid nothing on land under agricultural property relief with no limit.
The allowance comes on top of the £500,000 a typical homeowner gets if they leave their home to their children or grandchildren, so a married couple can shelter up to £3m from HMRC, a sum which will exclude most farms.
The NFU says the change, which will come into effect in April 2026, will force many farmers to sell their family farms to pay the tax bill. It claims that the change was pushed through without any consultation from the farming community.
Read the full analysis here:
Inheritance tax: How out of pocket will farmers actually be?
‘It’s become so tough I’m looking for a second job’: Inside the farming crisis
Tuesday 19 November 2024 15:47 , Holly EvansI got into farming because I love it. But it’s got so hard now to make enough money, I’m looking to get a second job.”
Chris Callow started raising livestock as soon as he left school, aged just 17. Now, aged 37, he and his wife, Jaz, own a small farm raising cattle and sheep near Axbridge in Somerset.
The couple have ambitions to expand the business and pass it on to their six children – but all is not going to plan.
Farmers tell Alex Ross that Rachel Reeves’ Budget ‘tractor tax’ is the latest blow to a family industry struggling to survive:
‘It’s become so tough I’m looking for a second job’: Inside the farming crisis
Watch: Jeremy Clarkson joins farmers’ ‘tractor tax’ protest in Westminster
Tuesday 19 November 2024 15:30 , Holly EvansFull story: NFU chief hints farmers could take more extreme action
Tuesday 19 November 2024 15:15 , Holly EvansThe general secretary of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has hinted that more extreme action could be taken if the government does not backtrack on its plan to extend inheritance tax to agricultural properties.
Asked “what happens next” following Tuesday’s planned events – which has seen an estimated 20,000 people descend on Westminster to urge the government to backtrack on the levy – Tom Bradshaw said: “I think you’ll have all seen the media reports about what farmers across the United Kingdom think they should be doing next.”
It comes as farmers have threatened the government with “militant action” over the policy, which they argue will cause food shortages and the breakup of family farms.
Read the full article here from political correspondent Millie Cooke:
NFU chief hints farmers could take more extreme action after inheritance tax protest
Environment secretary says many protesters are ‘wrong’ about policy
Tuesday 19 November 2024 15:03 , Holly EvansThe Environment Secretary has said many farmers protesting in Westminster over changes to inheritance tax are “wrong” about the policy.
Appearing before MPs in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Steve Reed was told there are “a lot more than 500 (farmers) here saying they’re going to be affected” and asked whether they were wrong.
He replied: “Well, assuming these projections from HMRC, validated by the OBR and IFS, are correct then many of them, probably happily, are wrong because there are things that they can do to plan their tax affairs as most businesses or asset owners would do to limit their liability.
“The numbers I’ve heard bandied around are enormous and very, very frightening if people were to believe them.”
He said figures being used by critics were based on Defra data on the value of farms “and then people have drawn a straight line to an inheritance tax liability, but you can’t do that, because ownership is much more complex than one person, one farm”.
He added: “Of course we want family farming to continue, just as it always has done.”
Farmer’s daughter says family farm will be lost over Budget changes
Tuesday 19 November 2024 14:51 , Holly EvansA farmer’s daughter said the changes to agricultural inheritance tax will prevent her and her brother from taking over their family farm.
Jen, from Yorkshire, who did not give her surname, told the PA news agency after a protest in central London on Tuesday: “I’ll be seventh generation on our farm and essentially, if the Budget goes through, then that means that I won’t be able to take her over my family farm because between me and my brother we would have to sell up to be able to pay the tax.
“It’s something we’ve both been passionate about from when we were little kids, ever since we could walk, always been involved – it’s a lifestyle.”
The 24-year-old said they would have to pay approximately £1.2 million if the Government does not scrap the tax changes.
“We have spoken to our accountant, solicitors, and once something happens to our parents – unless there is some change, unless there’s something we can do – then it’s not possible for us,” she said.
“The logistics of it for us to keep going just isn’t financially viable at all, even with an outside job, you still wouldn’t be able to bring in enough money to be able to pay that off.”
Make no mistake – the so-called ‘tractor tax’ isn’t just bad news for farmers...
Tuesday 19 November 2024 14:38 , Holly EvansI never imagined that farmers like me would need to go to London in order to protect our future livelihoods, but here we are. Contrary to what the government would have you believe, the recently announced inheritance tax changes will impact a vast many – it isn’t just an elite few.
We live on my husband’s family farm in West Meon, Hampshire. My husband has been here for 51 of his 53 years – and it’s terrifying to think how our lives are going to change. My father-in-law is still working at the age 82, and we had all hoped the farm would, in time, pass down to our two daughters to continue producing good quality, farm-assured beef and lamb for local people to enjoy.
Now we will face selling off part of the farm to pay the so-called “tractor tax”. And the bleak reality that neither us nor our girls will be able to make a living through the farm moving forward.
Read the full analysis from Victoria Cobden here:
Make no mistake – the so-called ‘tractor tax’ isn’t just bad news for farmers...
Jeremy Clarkson says farmers took a ‘hammer blow to the head'
Tuesday 19 November 2024 14:13 , Holly EvansAddressing the farmers’ protest in Westminster, TV presenter and farmer Jeremy Clarkson said he had come to understand about farming how “unbelievably difficult it is, and dangerous, and cold”.
Farmers faced costs, pressure from environmentalists and regulations, and “we have all these complications and costs, and there’s very little money in it as you know – and then we got the Budget”, he said, to boos from the crowd.
“I know a lot of people across the country in all walks of life took a bit of a kick on the shin with that Budget. You lot got a knee in the nuts and a hammer blow to the back of the head.”
How many farmers will be affected by the inheritance tax changes?
Tuesday 19 November 2024 14:01 , Athena StavrouLabour says three-quarters of estates will not be affected by the upcoming changes, but campaigners have taken issue with this, reports my colleague Albert Toth.
According to Treasury analysis, around 500 estates will be impacted by the changes, with just the top 7 per cent of claims accounting for 40 per cent of the total value of the relief fund.
A release from the department adds: “It is not fair for a very small number of claimants each year to claim such a significant amount of relief, when this money could better be used to fund our public services.”
However, the Country Land and Business Association has said it is closer to 70,000 farms that will be affected. The new measure will mean “damaging family businesses and destabilising food security,” they add.
Economists have said this figure is slightly misleading. The 70,000 number does not reflect how many estates will have to pay inheritance tax each year, but rather how many are could be valued at over £1m today.
Paul Johnson, director of the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) says: “The changes will affect a remarkably small number of some of the most valuable farms.”
Why are farm owners demonstrating over inheritance tax?
Tuesday 19 November 2024 13:53 , Athena StavrouFrom April 2026, landowners who inherit agricultural assets worth more than £1m will have to pay 20 per cent inheritance tax (IHT) on them. These assets were previously entirely exempt from the tax under the agricultural property relief law.
Under the new rules, the 20 per cent levy – which is half of the standard 40 per cent rate – will be charged on assets above the £1 million threshold only. Also unlike regular IHT, the levy can be paid in interest-free instalments over a ten-year period.
The exemption is stacked with other IHT relief measures. Inheritance tax is already not paid if the value of the estate being passed on is worth under £325,000, plus £175,000 for a home under certain conditions.
For a farm owned by two people, this means the effective tax-free amount passed on is £3m when combining both their allowances plus each getting the £1m agricultural relief.
My colleague Albert Toth has more details here:
Farmers’ protest: Why are farm owners demonstrating over inheritance tax?
Pictures from today’s protest
Tuesday 19 November 2024 13:44 , Athena Stavrou
Farmers head to the pub after protest
Tuesday 19 November 2024 13:31 , Athena StavrouMy colleague Barney Davis reports from Whitehall:
There was lots of chatter amid the herds of dissipating farmers about which pub to visit now the speeches have ended.
Jack Greenaway from Devon said the protest was a tremendous success as he heads off to the pub with friends.
He was audibly shocked when I tell him that it is around £7 for a Guinness in the capital. “How much? Bloody hell. It’s £4 where I’m from you will have to come down my way.”
Farmers who ploughed through barriers in tractors to be reported
Tuesday 19 November 2024 13:23 , Athena StavrouThe Metropolitan Police said tractor drivers who ploughed through barriers at the farmers’ protests in central London will be reported.
A red tractor drove over a traffic cone and through a no entry sign on Whitehall at about midday on Tuesday. Another blue tractor entered the protest area behind it.
In a post on X, Scotland Yard said: “We’ve been engaging with those who brought tractors today and had no concerns with them driving around.
“However, driving over a police barrier line is not acceptable and the drivers will be reported for the offence.”
We’ve been engaging with those who brought tractors today and had no concerns with them driving around.
— Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) November 19, 2024
However driving over a police barrier line is not acceptable and the drivers will be reported for the offence. https://t.co/XWHvXGHALp
Huge crowd told to split as farmers praise police
Tuesday 19 November 2024 13:18 , Athena StavrouThe Independent’s Barney Davis reports from Whitehall:
Crowds have been told to split and leave Whitehall in two different directions due to the sheer size of the protest.
Huge cheers have been heard for the Metropolitan Police for making the event safe.
Starmer responds to farmer protests from G20 summit
Tuesday 19 November 2024 13:11 , Athena StavrouThe prime minister has responded to claims that the new Labour budget is waging a “class war” as thousands of farmers descend on Whitehall to protest changes to inheritance tax.
Speaking to Sky News from the G20 summit in Rio, Brazil, he insisted that the “vast majority will be unaffected” by the policy and added that he “wants to support farming”.
He said: “Where people are over that threshold, the tax is 20% - so half of what everybody else pays.”
When asked if the tax policies around farming and private schools is encouraging a class war, he said: “No, absolutely not. It isn’t at all what we’re doing.”
Family farm is facing a ‘lottery on death’
Tuesday 19 November 2024 13:03 , Holly EvansA young farmer said his family are facing a “lottery on death” because of changes in the Budget.
Oliver Atkinson, a mixed farmer who grows crops and keeps livestock in East Hampshire, said changes to inheritance tax on farms will be “a huge burden”.
The 28-year-old said: “We are here not just for the inheritance act, but there’s a lot of other things that the public don’t know about that the Government has brought in like a carbon tax on fertiliser, which grows 40 per cent of the world’s food. We can’t do without it.
“There are TB issues, there’s the inheritance tax which will be a huge burden.”
Mr Atkinson, who is a fifth-generation family farmer, said: “There is a lottery on death. I farm with my brother – if one of us dies early, then half the farm technically would then get a 20% tax.”
David Cameron voices support for farmers
Tuesday 19 November 2024 12:58 , Holly EvansDavid Cameron has joined former prime ministers in voicing his support for the agricultural community, sharing a picture of himself engaging in discussions with farmers.
In a tweet, he wrote: “I’m proud to back our British farmers today.
Living in - and having represented - a rural constituency, I know full well that family farmers are the lifeblood of our rural economy, working night and day and through generations to provide the country with food.
“Labour’s ill-thought-through tax changes will destroy their livelihoods and put British farming at risk. Let’s all show our support for British farmers today.”
I’m proud to back our British farmers today. Living in - and having represented - a rural constituency, I know full well that family farmers are the lifeblood of our rural economy, working night and day and through generations to provide the country with food.
— David Cameron (@David_Cameron) November 19, 2024
Labour’s… pic.twitter.com/Rxf6PckzWH
Jeremy Clarkson urges government to admit ‘mistake’ and back down
Tuesday 19 November 2024 12:51 , Holly EvansFormer Top Gear presenter Jeremy Clarkson has taken to the stage in Westminster, urging the Labour government to admit that their policy change “was a mistake”.
He said: “For the sake of everybody here, and all the farmers stuck at home today paralysed by a fog of despair by what’s been foisted upon them, I beg the government to accept this was rushed through, wasn’t thought out, and was a mistake.
“That’s the big thing to do - admit it, and back down.”
The TV star bought a farm as part of his Amazon TV show Clarkson’s Farm, and told the crowd that running a farm “costs a fortune” due to the price of equipment and upkeep.
He stressed there’s “very little money” in farming and was met with boos from the crowd when he referenced the budget.
Downing Street says Treasury has had engagement with the NFU
Tuesday 19 November 2024 12:42 , Holly EvansIn response to calls for Rachel Reeves to meet farmers, Downing Street insisted the Treasury had been in contact with them about the inheritance tax changes.
A No 10 spokeswoman said: “As I understand, the Treasury has had engagement with the NFU. Meetings are otherwise for the Chancellor and her team to set out.
“For the PM’s part, he met with the NFU, I think, in Downing Street in his early weeks in office and regularly engages with all sectors.”
Environment Secretary Steve Reed met the NFU’s president on Monday night and will address the Country Land and Business Association on Thursday, the spokeswoman added.
Kemi Badenoch says she will reverse ‘obviously cruel’ tax
Tuesday 19 November 2024 12:39 , Holly EvansKemi Badenoch has taken to the stage at the farmer tax protest in Westminster, saying that they are “carrying the burden for the whole country”.
“We know how this tax will destroy your way of life,” says the Tory leader, as she pledged to reverse it if her party get back into power.
“This policy is so obviously unfair, so obviously cruel, and we will do everything we can - if they do not U-turn now - to reverse this tax.”
Politicians pictured joining protest in Whitehall
Tuesday 19 November 2024 12:33 , Holly Evans
