Farmers are threatening “militant” action after Chancellor Rachel Reeves rejected their plea for a U-turn on a tax hike from the Budget.
Treasury minister James Murray and Environment Secretary Steve Reed met with Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union, after a backlash in the countryside over the changes to inheritance tax.
But after the meeting, a Government spokesperson said: “We understand concerns about changes to Agricultural Property Relief.
“Ministers made clear that the vast majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.
“This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. We remain committed to working with the NFU and listening to farmers.”
The new Government claimed its “commitment to farmers remains steadfast”.
“It’s why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production,” the spokesperson added.
But Mr Bradshaw slammed the “completely unfair” change to inheritance tax for farms which he stressed had left farmers across the UK worried for their future.
He added that he had never seen “the weight of support, the strength of feeling and anger” over the plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million, which was one of a string of measures in the Budget to raise £40 billion in tax, alongside £32 billion more borrowing, to boost spending by some £70 billion.
With farmers livid at the move, he stressed: “Many of them want to be militant.
“Now we are not encouraging that in any way shape or form, but Government need to understand that there is a real strength of feeling behind what this change means for the future of family farming in this country.
“We will continue to try and work with the Government to get to a resolution but something has to change.”
Hundreds of farmers are expected to protest outside Parliament later this month.
The farming union, which is not advocating militant action, has planned a meeting in Westminster for November 19 at the Church House conference centre.
Some 600 farmers may head for the gathering, with more possibly in the streets.
Under plans announced in the Budget, inheritance tax will be charged at 20% on farms worth more than £1 million, although the Chancellor has said that in some cases the threshold could in practice be about £3 million.
The move has caused a considerable backlash from farming and countryside communities, and led to a dispute over just how many farms and farm businesses would be affected.
Mr Bradshaw said: “Obviously, we fully dispute the figures the Treasury has been using and we’ve played back Defra’s own figures.
“So, the Treasury is saying only 27% of farms will be within scope of these changes, Defra’s own figures suggest that two-thirds of farms will be in scope.
“How they can have that wide a discrepancy within Government is quite unbelievable.”
He said there had been no resolution on the issue from the meeting, adding: “We’ve made very passionately our perception clear, that this tax change is completely unfair.
“It had been ruled out by the secretary of state in the run-up to the election and now there are many family farms right across the United Kingdom that are worried for their future.”
He said he had been receiving calls from people in their middle age who have been running successful businesses, but whose parents were still in the family house and partners in the business, and might not live for seven years - the minimum time after a transfer of assets for inheritance tax not to apply.
Ms Reeves told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Only a very small number of agricultural properties will be affected, but last year the benefits of agricultural property relief, 40% of the benefit was felt by 7% of the wealthiest land owners.
“I don’t think it is affordable to carry on with a relief like that when our public finances are under so much pressure.”
But the National Farmers’ Union said that many family farms have a high notional asset value, but very low income and liquidity, which means that the vast majority of owners would be unable to meet the inheritance tax charges, without selling assets.
