‘We’re not going away!’ Labour handed stark warning by farmers as protests continue for third consecutive day
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been warned the farmers are “not going away”, as workers gather in Buxton, Derbyshire for their third and final day of consecutive protests.
Farmers lined their tractors outside Thursday’s farming conference venue in Oxford, blaring their horns during Environment Secretary Steve Reed’s speech.
Speaking at the conference, Environment Secretary Steve Reed acknowledged the inheritance tax changes were “very unwelcome”.
“It wasn’t something we intended or wanted to do before we saw the state of the public finances, and of course, I regret that, but we tried to make it a little easier,” he told farmers.
Farmer Les Boam told GB News that his family face a potential £400,000 inheritance tax bill as a result of Labour’s changes, and the tax raid will “hit young farmers hard”.
Discussing the latest protest from Farmers To Action, Boam explained: “We’re dairy farmers, and I’ve been farming all my life, my parents as well. We are third generation, and I’ve got a fourth generation at home doing the work so I could be here.
“I feel very sorry for all these lads here who are a lot younger than me, because this inheritance tax is really going to give them a hard time if it was put into place.”
When pressed by Will on how the tax will impact his farm personally, Boam revealed: “The problem we’ve got, we’re really dictated by supermarket prices, and not a lot of us are making much money.
“So if you have a 40 per cent tax on my death, my kids that have come up with probably £400,000, and the only way we could do that is to sell off ground. And if you sell off your ground, you can’t produce as much money off your farm to do that. So it’s just a spiral going down and down.”
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In a fresh warning to Labour, Boam made clear that the protests and the farmers are “not going away”, and Starmer has “brought the community together” in fighting the tax changes.
Boam stated: “We’re just showing that we’re not going away.
“What Keir Starmer has done has brought the farming community together, so we’re all joining forces showing that we’re a community, and it’s time the Government looked after us.
In a direct plea to Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Boam urged the minister to “look at the figures” and consider a U-turn on the decision.
He concluded: “Rachel Reeves has got to go and look at the figures. I think the NFU have said they’re willing to get around the table to speak to them. So just just look at your figures and basically stop it.”
The Government has said it aims to make the system fairer and discourage wealthy people from investing in land solely to avoid tax.
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has also previously said the Budget had put “£5billion into farming” over the next two years.
The Government maintains that it remains committed to supporting farmers and “the vital role they play to feed our nation”.