Turning the screw on the Chancellor

Focusing on Labour backbenchers, the UFU delegation hammered home the message that the proposals were unfair, unworkable, and not grounded in a proper understanding of Northern Ireland’s farming structure.

Across Monday evening and throughout Tuesday they pleaded with MPs and Peers to demand a change of course by the government before irreparable damage was inflicted on the Province’s agriculture industry.

They also took part in a protest rally at Whitehall in central London on Tuesday – exactly 12 months to the day since the first major farming rally was held in the capital to oppose the Chancellor’s proposals.

Monday night’s event, held at Westminster and organised by the UFU, was entitled ‘Securing the Future of Family Farming in Northern Ireland’.

Hosted by Labour MP Adam Jogee, and attended by many of his party’s backbenchers, it heard from NI Affairs Select committee chair Tonia Antoniazzi, also a Labour MP, and Conservative Shadow Farming Minister Robbie Moore MP.

The UFU delegation then held discussions with MPs and Peers of all parties the following day, as well as delivering a signed letter to the Treasury opposing the family farm tax proposals.

Speaking afterwards, UFU president William Irvine said: “Our farmers have been forced to travel from Northern Ireland to deliver their personal stories and fears directly to the policymakers responsible for Budget decisions, as the Chancellor is refusing to listen.

“At our event last night and meetings today, members pleaded with backbench MPs to urgently change course on proposed changes to inheritance tax, stating plainly that it would lead to the ruin of livelihoods and farms which have taken generations to build.”

UFU staff and members stressed to MPs how farmers in Northern Ireland will be severely and disproportionately affected by the devastating IHT proposals due to the unique owner-occupied farming structure in Northern Ireland and significantly higher land values.

“These are not large estates or wealthy landowners, these are ordinary working farms, often held by a single individual, where assets are tied up in land, machinery, and livestock rather than cash,” added Mr Irvine.

“Farming in NI is asset-rich but cash-poor, and the reality is that many families simply cannot raise the liquidity required within the short timeframe to meet the tax bills these proposals would create.

“The proposals are not only unworkable but profoundly unfair – it’s a tax on tragedy.”

The president went on: “We will continue to plead with MPs to stand with our families – to listen to their lived experience and work with us to secure a fair and workable approach. This is people’s lives, their homes, their land and the decisions made here will ripple through generations.”

Meanwhile, more than 100 businesses, retailers and trade bodies across the food and farming supply chain, including the NFU, have written to the Prime Minister urging him to do the right thing and rethink planned changes to inheritance tax.

The open letter to Sir Keir Starmer outlines how the unjust and unfair tax will impact thousands of working people running family farms.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “Over the past 12 months, I have never known such an outpouring of anger and frustration from all sectors of the farming industry and wider supply chain to this unjust policy.

“It has been evident the Treasury does not understand farming and has remained intransigent in its position despite many calling for change. As we have repeatedly pointed out, the policy as it is, is anti-growth. It is stopping businesses and farms from investing and will leave many farming families forced to sell all or parts of their business to afford these horrendous future tax bills.”

He went on: “This is a pivotal moment. Getting this right will mean we can move forward and work together to regain some of the confidence that has drained away after months of relentless pressure. This government must back British farming for all it delivers for the nation and for the economic value it underpins in our largest manufacturing sector, British food and drink.”

A further farming protest is planned for London next Wednesday, November 26, beginning at Whitehall at 9.30am – just hours before the Chancellor is due to rise to her feet at Westminster to deliver her Budget.

Organisers of the rally are calling on farmers from across the UK to join them, and are urging as many as possible to drive their tractors into the capital.

A spokesperson said: “This Budget day, farmers from across the UK are driving to London to demand fairness and a future for British farming. The current IHT system threatens family farms and rural livelihoods; it’s time for change.

“From 9.30am, farmers, families, and supporters will gather on Whitehall to send a clear message to those in power: rural Britain won’t be ignored.

“They’ll be guest speakers, passionate voices from across the countryside, and we will be channelling our inner French.”

The organisers want the protest to be a peaceful, farmer-led event “by the people, for the people who feed the nation”.

Ahead of the London protest, there have been calls for a ‘Day of Unity’ to be held on Monday, November 24, across the UK.

Farmers are being urged to make themselves as visible as possible by mounting go-slow vehicle protests on A-roads and parking on overhead bridges with warning lights on.