Sir Keir Starmer should “change course” on the Government’s alterations to inheritance tax affecting family farms, opposition MPs have said.
The Commons also heard on Wednesday that some farmers considered the Labour Government “duplicitous”, as tractor drivers lined streets near the Palace of Westminster to protest against the measures.
Hundreds of farmers travelled into the capital from across the country, including from Exmoor, Shropshire, Somerset and the home counties, for the latest protest.
The vehicles lined up on Whitehall from 10am ahead of speeches at noon and began a slow drive around central London on Wednesday.
From April 2026, farmers will pay 20% inheritance tax on agricultural property and land after the first £1 million-worth when they previously paid none, as part of plans announced in this year’s budget.
At Prime Minister’s Questions, Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: “British farmers are the best in the world. They are the best in the world because of our tradition of family farms, where from generation to generation a commitment to high-quality food, to our precious environment and animal welfare is passed down.
“But family farms were let down badly by the last Conservative government, with the botched transition to new payment schemes, and their unfair trade deals with Australia and New Zealand that have undercut British farmers.
“Now many family farms feel the Government’s budget will be the final blow. So will the Prime Minister change course and recognise the vital role that British family farms play?”
Norfolk MP Jerome Mayhew later said from the Conservative benches: “’Losing a farm is not like losing any other business. It can’t come back’.
“Now, those are the words of the Prime Minister, that is what he said to the NFU (National Farmers’ Union) in order to get their votes, so can the Prime Minister understand why farmers in Broadland and Fakenham and around the country now think that his administration is duplicitous?”
Sir Keir claimed that the Government had spent “last week alone, £350 million to support farmers across the United Kingdom” in his reply to Sir Ed.
He said it “does contrast with the last government” who he said underspent by £350 million in relation to farmers.
Responding to Mr Mayhew, the Prime Minister told MPs: “I think everybody welcomes the £5 billion over the next two years that we’ve put in the budget – well, they shake their heads, I’m afraid they do.”
He added: “On the threshold, as he well knows, in an ordinary family case, the threshold is £3 million and that means the vast majority of farmers will be unaffected.”
Farmers lined Whitehall and Parliament Square in their tractors on Wednesday, during Prime Minister’s Questions, with some using their vehicle horns to play a series of melodies including Baby Shark and Old MacDonald Had A Farm.
They hit out at the changes at the rally, with Will Elliott, 50, being among them. He drove his tractor for three hours from his farm near Grafham, south of Guildford in Surrey, to attend the protest.
Mr Elliot, who is a fourth-generation farmer on the family farm, said: "The industry is already down on its knees and this is just another kick in the teeth.
"Obviously, the idea is that we want to pass it down to the next generation, but farmers are asset-rich, cash poor, we're not going to have the money to pay the inheritance tax."
Claire Fifield, 26, who lives in London but regularly takes time off to help her step-family run their farm in Amersham, Buckinghamshire, said they are tenant farmers who now fear they will not be able to pass down the business.
"We'd have to sell half the flock, half the cattle, sell some of the machinery, then you got half the income for the next year, plus the rental costs," she said.
Tom Bradshaw, National Farmers' Union president, started crying as he spoke about the risk that the tax changes pose to farmers taking their lives.
"No policy should ever be published that has that unintended side effect," he said.
Addressing arguments that money does not necessarily trigger this response, he became emotional as he said: "It's not money. This is a lifetime of work, it's the heritage and the custodianship of their farm."
