Tractor tax protest brings Westminster to a standstill

Hundreds of vehicles blockaded streets as MPs debated a petition that requests inheritance tax relief stays for farms

- HOLLY EVANS BARNEY DAVIS

Large convoys of tractors and tanks filled the streets of Westminster in the latest protest against new inheritance tax rules for farmers.

Yesterday’s rally, organised by Save British Farming, comes as MPs debate an e-petition with more than 150,000 signatures calling to keep the current inheritance tax exemptions for working farms.

Politicians including former home secretary James Cleverly and Reform MP Richard Tice were among those present while Nigel Farage attended an earlier event and called for an end to “death taxes”.

Appearing at a Farmers To Action campaign event in north London before the main event, the Reform UK leader called for the measure to be scrapped completely, and for farmers to continue campaigning.

He said: “The message I’ve been putting to them, I think they’re listening too. [A hundred] Labour MPs now represent rural seats – if they see local communities getting behind these families, they’re going to start getting scared, and they’re going to start putting pressure on No 10 and let’s face it, they’re in pretty big trouble already. So I think if this campaign is persistent and peaceful, they can get change.”

Labour has insisted it will not make a U-turn on its plans to introduce a 20 per cent inheritance tax rate on farms worth more than £1m. The changes announced in the Budget are due to come into force in April 2026 and end an exemption that meant no inheritance tax was liable on family farms that had been passed down.

Liz Webster, the founder of Save British Farming, told