'Labour vowed to stand up for farmers but once they got in power they taxed family farms'

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Badenoch warns that Keir Starmer’s “cruel” plan to hike Inheritance Tax on farms will crush families and destroy vital businesses.

“The rural British way of life is to be cherished, not to be squandered,” she says.

Her remarks come as a massive boost to the Daily Express Save Britain’s Family Farms crusade which demands a U-turn.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves used her nightmare Budget last Autumn to cap the Agricultural Property Relief at £1million, with anything over that taxed at 20%.

The UK Government insists the majority of farms will be unaffected and the policy will be introduced from April 2026.

In her biggest intervention yet on the issue, Mrs Badenoch said the proposed changes are based on “astounding arrogance” and will cripple many family farms.

“They think that because land is expensive it means farmers are sitting on lots of cash in the bank,” she says.

“Far from it. Farming families do not have the cash to spare.”

She adds that many farmers who want to keep their land will be forced to sell it to pay the tax bill meaning they won’t have the land to farm.

“It’s completely crazy,” Mrs Badenoch says, warning that the end result is that farms will be “forced to sell and be replaced by solar panels driven by Ed Miliband’s net zero by 2050 zealotry or for unsuitable housing forced through by Angela Rayner.”

The Opposition leader also takes a swipe at Sir Keir who she describes as a “wolf in sheep’s clothing” who “says one thing to get elected, then does another”.