The entire nation will suffer as a result of Chancellor's attack on our farmers

BRITAIN'S farming industry faces an existential threat thanks to a devastating tax raid by Rachel Reeves. But the entire nation will suffer as a result.

- KATIE HARRIS

The Chancellor's hated inheritance tax changes risk higher prices at the checkout and threaten the UK's food security in an increasingly uncertain world.

Labour went into the last general election vowing not to increase taxes for "working people". But once the voting was over, Ms Reeves, inset below, announced a series of tax hikes, including a rise in employers' national insurance and a levy on farms worth more than £1million.

A year on from last October's Budget, farmers are still up in arms over the "family farm tax", which has prompted a series of major protests and seen hundreds of tractors descending on Westminster.

For years, farmers have had inheritance tax relief, allowing them to hand down their farms, which are often asset-rich but cash-poor, to the next generation without incurring a fee. But from next April they face a 20% rate on combined agricultural and business property above £1million, or £3million for couples.

Campaigners have warned that the changes could spell the end of family farms across the country as farmers will be forced to sell off land to pay the charges.

There have been reports of desperate farmers pushed to the brink of suicide by the policy due to the prospect of undoing their life's work. Mental health was already a major issue in the sector due to crippling financial pressures and long hours - often spent working alone in remote areas.

Critics have also raised fears over the impact on UK food security if farms are broken up at a time when global tensions are rising. Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine pushed up food prices here, and nobody knows what the sabre-rattling Russian president will do next.

Around 60% of the food consumed in the UK is domestically produced, including most cereals, meat, dairy and eggs. The figure is lower for fruit and vegetables. But it is all dependent on a series of factors including extreme weather and disease.