'We can give no more': farmers say the inheritance tax changes are last straw

Over the next few weeks there could be tractors full of angry farmers rolling through the stately streets of Westminster.

- Helena Horton

They've had enough, they say. The change to inheritance tax in the government's budget last week was a blow - but it was also the most recent of a long series of blows. This is, apparently, as much as they can take.

Last week Rachel Reeves stirred up anger when she made a surprise announcement in the budget that farmland worth over £1m will now be subject to inheritance tax. Since 1992, agricultural property relief (APR) has meant family farms have been able to be passed down tax-free in a policy that was aimed at boosting food security and keeping people on the family land.

But this is just the latest policy to have hit agriculture over the last few years. For decades there had been anger over deals with supermarkets which, farmers said, forced them to cut margins to the bone. Then came Brexit, which brought broken promises over Brexit trade deals with Australia and New Zealand allowing in cheap meat raised to lower standards and incensing farmers who felt undercut.

Brexit also meant a transition away from the subsidies of the EU's common agricultural policy to a new scheme where farmers are paid for environmental goods, the delivery of which was botched and delayed. They have faced new export challenges, and wrestled with access to the seasonal workers they need.

Finally they have felt abandoned when extreme weather conditions have wiped out entire crops, while inflation has caused the cost of fuel and fertiliser rocket.