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The UK farming community and the Labor government remain locked out a standstill after hundreds of angry farmers brought their tractors to Westminster.
On the day a sharp report from Defra revealed that the UK produced less than two-thirds of its total food consumption, the countryside turned out en masse outside Parliament to protest the changes to inheritance tax.
National Farmers’ Union (NFU) president Tom Bradshaw fought back tears as he spoke of the risk of farmers taking their own lives as a result of the levy in an impassioned speech to the Environment Committee.
Outside, about 500 tractors blocked by Whitehall before they rode in a slow and noisy procession around Westminster, carrying banners accusing Sir Keir of destroying the family farm.
But when faced with controversial changes to the levy, which farmers claim will lead to the sale and even closure of family businesses, Sir Keir has remained resolutely on his party line.
“The vast majority of farmers will not be affected,” Sir Keir told Prime Minister’s Questions, before accusing opposition political parties of “fear mongering” over the highly sensitive issue.
The NFU said it had tried to engage with Labor over the plans, which would see farmers pay an inheritance tax rate of 20 per cent on farms worth more than £1 million from April 2026.
However, Mr Bradshaw said the government had taken no action following a meeting with Sir Keir last month.
Farming campaign groups said the government must back down.
After Wednesday’s protest in London, leaders said they were already planning more tractor protests in places where Labor ministers hold parliamentary seats.
said Liz Webster, founder of Save British Farming The Independent: “We’re going to fill the cities of every single Labor MP, especially if they’re ministers – they’re all on the target list – until the government steps down.”
On speculation of strikes leading to food shortages in supermarkets, Ms Webster refused to rule out the possibility. “We haven’t organized anything, but we’re open to coordinating with others, it’s a massive effort,” she said.
Some farmers drove up to eight hours in their tractors from Exmoor to Westminster. HGVs rumbled into Whitehall from 10am as the Environment Committee, which is investigating the impact of the tax changes, began.
As Sir Keir was grilled over the plan at PMQs, first by Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey and then by Tory MP Jerome Mayhew, farmers gathered near Downing Street to speak from the back of a van.
An hour later, they returned to their tractors and took part in a light procession along the Westminster loop route.
Waving British flags and honking horns, they also displayed signs reading: “No farmers, no food”, “I’m not hungry, thank you farmer” and “Save British agriculture”.
David Catt, a vegetable and herb grower from Maidstone, Kent, said inheritance tax would destroy many family farms.
“They’re all generational farmers, so the value of the land they’re farming is irrelevant to what they’re doing,” he said. “The problem is that the money you get from the land covers the inheritance tax.”
Asked if further strike action could cause food shortages, Catt said: “We are trying to get the public on side with these public protests. All we are doing is asking the government to review this law.
“If there is no change, things could escalate, we could bring the country to a standstill… [but] we don’t want it to come to that.”
Beef and arable farmer Edward Ford, who traveled from Dorking, Surrey, said the tax changes would affect his family.
“I’ve spent the last 30 years expanding and buying land, and now I have a pretty big farm for the area,” he said. “I didn’t take any profit knowing we could pass it on.”
His daughter Harriet (25) is already a partner in the farm, which has been in the family for almost 100 years. She said: “It’s very uncertain and very unfair, I think it’s just completely unfair.”
Within the Environment Committee, representatives of farming groups, including Mr Bradshaw, said they had written to Sir Keir asking for a pause in the inheritance tax changes and a consultation.
Mr Bradshaw fought back tears as he warned of the “serious human consequences” the policy could have, including the risk of farmers taking their own lives.
Addressing arguments that money doesn’t necessarily elicit this response, he became emotional when he said: “It’s not money. This is a life’s work, it is a legacy and the care of their farm.”
Ms Webster, who helped organize Wednesday’s protest, said: “Farm accountability is everything, so you would feel like a failure who ends up losing the farm, and that’s why it’s such a cruel thing for Starmer to do that, and I have to listen to her.
“It is unthinkable that Keir Starmer and his advisers are doing this. Boris Johnson and his Partygate are miniscule, this is outrageous. This fight will continue.”
The protest took place on the same day that Defra published its Food Security Report 2024. It showed that 62 per cent of all food consumed in the UK is domestic, well below today’s peak of 78 per cent in 1984.
The argument put forward by farming campaign groups is that the phasing out of direct payments, replaced by environmentally driven subsidies, will move more countries away from food production.
They argue that the inheritance tax will further lead to more farmland being sold off as farmers scramble to foot the bill.
Several councils – North Northamptonshire, Devon, Harborough, Staffordshire Moorlands, Oxfordshire and Cambridgeshire – have so far voted in favor of proposals to oppose changes to inheritance tax.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs for the Countryside Alliance, said: “If the Chancellor doesn’t listen and work with the farming community to rethink this policy, the battle with the countryside will simply become a long-term pain.”
But Downing Street reiterated the government’s view that only a small number of farmers would be affected by the changes.
Asked if the prime minister had a message for farmers protesting in Westminster on Wednesday, Sir Keir Starmer’s official spokesman said: “This government recognizes that food security is national security; that is why we remain steadfast in our support for farmers.”
Asked if there would be a rethink on inheritance tax, the spokesman added: “No. We were clear that we understand the strength of feeling about the changes, but we are clear that only a small number of properties will be affected.
“Three quarters of estates will not be affected by these changes, but the Government’s commitment to farmers is firm.”