Labour warned of further ‘rural revolt’ if Reeves refuses to U-turn on farmer tax raid: ‘Scrap the tax!’
Labour have been warned of fresh “rural revolt” over their inheritance tax raid on farmers following their mass protest in London this week.
Members of the National Farmers’ Union and FairFuel UK have sent more than 30,000 emails to the Government, urging them to make a U-turn on the policy.
However, Environment Secretary Steve Reed has refused to apologise for the anxiety caused to farmers over Labour’s inheritance tax plans, stating it is “hard to be sorry for trying to make this country’s economy work and our public services work again”.
Reed also claimed that Labour are making these decisions “in the interest of every part of the country”.
Speaking to GB News, FairFuel UK Founder Howard Cox claimed that the “incredible” Budget decision to freeze fuel duty was “soiled” by the inheritance tax raid on farmers, and agricultural workers in both rural and urban areas are “angry” about the move.
Cox explained: “The Budget was incredible, we managed to get a freeze in fuel duty. That’s my raison d’etre in terms of campaigning and public affairs campaigning.
“But then it was soiled by the fact that they introduced this inheritance tax bombshell on farmers. They simply don’t understand why Labour are doing this, because they just don’t understand the countryside. And they’ve really been classified as being economically stupid.”
Cox revealed that he was asked by the many thousands of farmers who are members of FairFuel UK to “take action” against Labour, and so used one of his “campaign tactics” to summon tens of thousands of emails to government ministers.
Cox told GB News: “I’ve been asked by a considerable number of members if I could do something about this. So I took up the mantle and used one of my regular campaigning tactics, and that is to send an email, whether it’s an MP or in this case, to Rachel Reeves, Steve Reed, and of course, the Prime Minister.
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“And in 48 hours, something like 30,000 emails have been sent to them, basically saying scrap this tax.”
Expanding on the emotional impact the policy has had on farmers, Cox noted that he has “never seen such anger in people” to get the decision overturned, and in their protest in the capital.
Cox stated: “The emails I’m getting from people, the comments I’m getting are from very emotional people – they are not buying equipment now because they don’t want to put too much value on their land and their property.
“I was at the rally, and I can tell you that I’ve never seen such anger in people, but they did it politely, respectfully, and they were good people. So if you’re as angry as they are, please go to FairFuel UK’s website, click on the link and you can also contact the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.”
When asked by Martin what the possible next steps could be in the farmers’ plea to have the tax scrapped, Cox warned that there could be a less polite “rural revolt” compared to this week’s demonstration.
Cox concluded: “The actual rally we had was a plea, a polite and very respectful rally, with good people and good speeches. No one was causing any problems whatsoever. We weren’t gluing ourselves to roads or blocking people’s ways.
“What happens if we don’t get a polite and honest response back from Rachel Reeves to say, yeah, I’ve got this wrong, or increase the threshold up to £10million?
“She’s got to come back and really be honest and take the farmers on. And if they don’t get a good response, I’m afraid it will escalate into, as Nigel Farage says, a rural revolt.”