‘Kill farming’ tax claims as Sir Keir Starmer quizzed on Jeremy Clarkson 'misinformation' amid protests

Sir Keir Starmer has declared he is “very confident” the “vast majority” of farmers will not be affected by changes to inheritance tax amid claims the hike would “kill farming” as thousands protested in London.

The rally, which was attended by an estimated 13,000 people, according to police, was held alongside a mass lobby of MPs by members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).

TV presenter and journalist-turned-farmer Jeremy Clarkson addressed the rally, after tractors had earlier been driven past Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Downing Street, and accused the government of dealing a “hammer blow”.

Farmers have reacted with anger and dismay to the inheritance tax changes for farming businesses, which limit the existing 100 per cent relief for farms to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property.

Jeremy Clarkson speaks with the media in central London ahead of the farmer's protest over the changes to inheritance tax rules. The Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? host has taken to social media on several occasions to speak out on behalf of farmers' interests. Picture: PA | PA

Speaking exclusively to The Scotsman, NFU Scotland vice-president Alasdair Macnab claimed farmers were not wealthy, and warned the policy could kill off farms that were handed down through generations.

He said: “It impacts the whole of the UK, which is recognised with the fact that all the four farmer unions are represented here and thousands of farmers from all over the UK have come to express our anger, our dismay and our concern at the fact that this Labour government has, without any consultation or any warning, imposed a punitive tax on farming and, in particular, the impact this is going to have on passing a farm from one generation to the next.

“Farming is a long-term business and often depends on multi-generational succession to keep that business going. It's not like a shop where you can re-rent a shop or buy a shop, and then somebody else comes in.

“This involves long-term investment - for example, a cow coming to produce a calf. You have a few months to get it ready, nine months pregnancy and 20 months to get it to slaughter. That's a long-term investment and that runs through the generations.”

Farmers protest in central London. Credit: James Manning/PA Wire | James Manning/PA Wire

Mr Macnab added: “The perception of wealth is simply a perception, it is land. What that land can generate bears no fiscal relationship to the actual value of that land. What the farm returns are under half a per cent of the value of the land. A lot of farmers are not making a good living.”

But speaking at a press conference at the G20 in Brazil, Sir Keir said: “Firstly, £5 billion was set aside in the Budget over the next two years for farming.

“That is the single-biggest amount of money into farming and sustainable food production that has ever been set aside in any Budget, ever. So that’s a real statement of intent in terms of supporting farmers.

“There’s also money to deal with flooding, which is a huge problem for farmers, and money to deal with the outbreak of disease, which can be catastrophic for farmers if they lose their livestock.”

The Prime Minister added: “And so that’s why I’m very confident in saying that the vast majority will not be affected. How farmers then arrange their affairs within their family is obviously a matter for them.”

Young guns ride toy tractors through Parliament Square | Getty Images

Sir Keir declined to say whether Mr Clarkson had spread misinformation by claiming 96 per cent of farmers would be affected by inheritance tax changes.

“I’m not going to get into the business of commenting on what Jeremy Clarkson says,” the Prime Minister said. “I think the facts speak for themselves.”

Mr Clarkson, who said he had defied doctors’ orders to attend the demonstration after undergoing a heart procedure, told the rally: “I know a lot of people across the country in all walks of life took a bit of a kick on the shin with that Budget.

“For the sake of everybody here, and for all the farmers stuck at home paralysed by a fog of despair over what’s been foisted on them, I beg of the government to be big and accept this was rushed through, it wasn’t thought out and it was a mistake.”

Outside Parliament, children on toy tractors led a small march, while the majority of protesters gathered along Whitehall listening to speeches. Many held signs and banners, including ones that said “Starmer the farmer harmer” and “no farmers, no food, no future”.

MPs Nigel Farage, Kemi Badenoch and Sir Ed Davey were among the thousands of people in London for the farmers’ protest.

Farmers have warned of the impact of speeding up the phase-out of EU-era subsidies as funding is switched to nature-friendly land management schemes, and other measures in the UK Budget.

Some farmers warn they will have to sell off land to meet the inheritance tax costs and are threatening to strike over the pressures they say they are being put under by government policy, while there are warnings over people’s mental health.

Scottish Conservative shadow rural affairs secretary, Tim Eagle, joined the protest at Westminster. He said: “Labour’s family farm tax threatens to cripple family farms across the country.

“These changes to agricultural and business property relief will make it increasingly hard for farms to be passed onto future generations, and threatens future food production. Labour’s response shows they just don’t get it after shamefully breaking their promises they made to farmers.

“Passing on the family farm is not just a matter of inheritance. It ensures the survival of food security, local jobs and protects the rural way of life.”

A government spokesperson said ministers from both Treasury and the Environment Department (Defra) had regularly engaged with the NFU.

Defending the hike, Mr Reed insisted that only a few hundred farms would be impacted, rather than the tens of thousands claimed by critics of the inheritance tax change.

He said: “If farmers look at the facts, they will see the vast majority of them will pay nothing more under the new scheme than they did under the old scheme.”