Labour ‘declare civil war’ on countryside as farmer hits out at latest move: ‘The gloves are off!’

Labour has “declared civil war” with farmers by voting against the Tories’ motion to protect family farms from Sir Keir Starmer’s inheritance tax raid, according to Clive Bailye.

The farmer and campaigner joined Tom Harwood on GB News to discuss the opposition day motion which was opposed by 339 votes to 181, despite cross-party opposition to the tax plans.

Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves have repeatedly pointed to a £22bn public finance ‘black hole’ in their reasoning for the raid, but farmers are up in arms.

Reacting to yesterday’s vote, Bailye said: “What Labour did was make it quite clear that they have lost 100 rural seats straight away at the next election.

“We have been quite restrained so far – the protest in Westminster showed what we can organise with a week’s notice.

“This is a declaration of war with the countryside and the gloves are off.”

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Bailye, who helped organise last month’s rally in London, heralded the positive demonstration which drew praise from the Metropolitan Police.

But he suggested that patience is wearing thin for farmers who could be wiling to adopt more radical tactics.

“We made the food bank donation and we had children there”, he said.

“It was a peaceful protest to show our strength. We have fantastic support and we don’t want to disrupt that, there is no intention to do that.

“But there are other ways to cause this government problems, economic problems.”

The motion was defeated by 339 votes to 181 in the House of Commons, with Labour MPs largely supporting their party’s amendment defending the proposals.

Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins had urged MPs to “axe the family farm tax” during the opposition day debate, highlighting the “worry, distress and sense of betrayal” felt by farming families.

The Liberal Democrats, Conservatives and Reform party voted against the farm tax, while Labour MPs backed their party’s position on the reforms.

Under Labour’s proposals, farmers will face a 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural property and land worth more than £1 million, where previously they paid none.

For couples passing on farms, there is a higher threshold of £3 million.

The Treasury estimates around 500 estates annually will be affected by these changes, though campaigners warn it could impact approximately 75,000 farms.

Labour MP Markus Campbell-Savours, representing Penrith with over 1,600 farms, expressed concerns during the debate, stating: “I’m no rebel, I’m a moderate. But during the election I read what I thought were assurances from my party that we had no plans to introduce changes to APR.”

A Labour spokesman defended the reforms, highlighting their £5 billion investment in farming over two years.