Thousands of people have protested in London over changes to inheritance tax for farmers announced in the Budget.
Among those marching in Whitehall was TV presenter Jeremy Clarkson, who said “it’s the end” for farmers, as he called for the government to change its mind.
The prime minister said he understood farmers’ concerns and “wants to support” them but added “the vast majority” would be unaffected.
From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will be liable to the tax at 20% – half the usual inheritance tax rate.
Other allowances could mean a couple who are married or in a civil partnership could pass on a farm worth as much as £3m.
However, many farmers argue that while they are asset rich – for example in terms of their land and livestock – they are cash poor and the changes would mean they would have to sell up to be able to pay the tax.
Ahead of the protest, around 1,800 National Farmers’ Union (NFU) members met near Parliament as part of a mass lobby of MPs.
The group’s president, Tom Bradshaw, gave an impassioned speech describing the tax changes as destructive, a “stab in the back” for farmers, wrong and unacceptable.
He told protesters the changes were the “straw that broke the camel’s back”.
Later, speaking to Sky News, he said Labour had “destroyed” a “contract” between farming and the government dating back to World War Two.
“We’d love to pay more tax,” Mr Bradshaw added.
“If we get proper margins from food production, and we end up swelling the Treasury coffers, bring it on.
“But at the moment the supply chain doesn’t give us those returns that enables us to save the money to pay the inheritance tax that this government now wants to take.”
He added that Environment Secretary Steve Reed said when he was in opposition that Labour would not change agricultural property relief.
Since 2019, pig farming costs have risen by 54%, cattle by 44% and cereal by 43%, as food, fuel and fertiliser prices increase at a rate far outstripping the increases farmers can charge on what they produce. Subsidies that farmers get have also been declining since Brexit.
Government research suggests that an average farm last year made a profit of about £45,300 – although that figure may be overstated as it is based on a survey that excluded farms that bring in the least money.
The number of the UK’s 210,000 farms that could be affected by the inheritance tax change is also disputed.
The government says it will affect the wealthiest 500 estates each year, but the NFU and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) have estimated up to 70,000 farms worth more than £1m could be affected.
Between 2021 and 2022, 117 farms with a value of more than £2.5m were inherited.
Reed told the Commons Rural Affairs Committee on Tuesday that many farmers protesting over the tax changes were “wrong” about the policy – and he rejected claims the government had underestimated how many people would be affected.
“Many of them, probably happily, are wrong because there are things that they can do to plan their tax affairs as most businesses or asset owners would do to limit their liability,” he said.He said: “The numbers I’ve heard bandied around are enormous and very, very frightening if people were to believe them.”
He acknowledged the changes would be “unsettling” and said he was “listening” to concerns, but insisted that most farmers would not face a hike.