Farmers warn Starmer 'tractors coming to Westminster' on day of inheritance tax debate

Farmers have warned Sir Keir Starmer they will bring their tractors back to Westminster next month on the day MPs debate a petition calling for a rethink on the Government’s controversial inheritance tax proposals.

And one industry leader has told the PM he can expect demonstrations to continue until he axes what she called “this pernicious tax”.

Proposed changes to inheritance tax (IHT) outlined by Chancellor Rachel Reeves in her October Budget, which will be phased in from April of next year, would abolish key reliefs such as Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR), which currently allow up to 100% of the value of qualifying farms or businesses to pass to heirs tax-free.

Under the current system, families can inherit up to £325,000 tax-free (the nil-rate band), with an additional £175,000 allowance if a family home is included and passed to direct descendants, bringing the total threshold to £500,000 per individual or £1 million for couples.

Farmers have reacted furiously to the proposals, arguing that removing the agricultural property relief could devastate family farms and rural communities.

Many argue they rely on the exemption to keep their land and businesses within their families, as the capital tied up in farms often makes paying a large inheritance tax bill impossible without selling assets or land, and also dispute Treasury claims that just 500 farmers in the UK will be affected.

Anger prompted Tim Burt to start a petition on the Parliament website entitled Don't change inheritance tax relief for working farms, which has so far attracted 145,894 signatures, triggering the Parliamentary debate which will be held on February 10.

Ms Webster, founder of Save British Farming and a Wiltshire farmer herself, said: “Once we realised this important petition debate was going to happen so close to our planned demonstration on February 3, we decided that Parliament has to experience farmers’ fury and determination to keep up pressure as this petition is debated.

"We need to let this Govt know we won’t stop until they do the right thing and axe this pernicious tax and help make farming viable again.”

Kent farmer Simon Broad added: "By bringing our tractors to Westminster once again, we are demonstrating to Labour MPs the strength of feeling within our industry about the tax changes announced in October's Budget.

"It's crucial to remind them ahead of the debate that these changes will have a significant impact on the agricultural sector and our nation's food security.”

Similar tractor protests were staged in central London on December 11, with Ms Webster on that occasion estimating that roughly 650 had been involved.

Speaking in November, Sir Keir said: "It's very important for me to keep making the case that it's only farms and assets over £3m in a typical case of parents wanting to pass on to their children."

Stressing he was "confident the vast majority of farms will not be affected", Sir Keir also insisted the government "had discussions yesterday with the farmers and will continue to do so because we must support them".

Also in November, Environment Secretary Steve Reed told Westminster's rural affairs committee the Treasury figures were backed by the independent Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) and the independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) and "they all say that less than 500 would be affected a year”.

He said: "Assuming these projections from HMRC, validated by the OBR and the IFS, are correct then many of them - probably happily - are wrong - because there are things that they can do to plan their tax affairs, as most businesses and asset owners would do, to limit their liability.

"The numbers I've heard bandied around are enormous and very, very frightening... People have drawn a straight line to inheritance tax liability but you can't do that."