FARMERS have said “enough is enough” as they protest in tractors outside the Welsh Labour conference today.
They are bitterly unhappy with the changes made to the inheritance tax unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves last month.
6
6
6
6
This week, farmers even threatened to unleash crippling food shortages unless the Government reverses the hated ‘tractor tax’.
Crowds gathered with signs on Saturday morning bearing clear messages saying ‘No farmers no food’, ‘Blood on Labour hands’ and ‘Labour war on countryside’.
Police officers were seen keeping the demonstrators away from the conference itself in Llandudno, north-west Wales.
It comes as a planned protest in London this Tuesday (November 17) was “blocked” by the National Farmers’ Union, leaving farmers, including Jeremy Clarkson, fuming.
READ MORE ON THE TRACTOR TAX
PM Sir Keir Starmer has told today’s conference he would defend Labour’s first Budget “all day long” as the demonstration gathered.
Hailing a “new era” of Labour Wales and Labour Britain “pulling in the same direction”, Sir Keir said the Welsh branch had “carried the torch” for the party during 14 years of Conservative rule in Westminster.
Evil ‘tractor tax’ will devastate Britain – Labour must buckle before protests cripple the country, says farmer’s champ
By Noa Hoffman and Harry Cole
FARMERS this week threatened to ratchet up protests and unleash crippling food shortages unless Labour reverses its “devastating” farm tax.
James Melville, founder of No Farmers No Food, said workers are “at their wits end” over Rachel Reeve’s inheritance tax raid on land and tractors.
A major protest against the move will take place in Westminster next Tuesday, with more than 5,000 furious families set to attend.
Cops this week imposed a ban on tractors at the event amid plans for a convoy to make its way into central London.
Mr Melville implored the Chancellor to scrap the 20 per cent tax on farms valued over £1m or face further wrath.
Some campaigners have already threatened withholding meat and veggies from supermarkets for a week as a possible last resort.
The Farmer’s champion told Never Mind The Ballots: “We are going to gradually put the pressure on.
“The main thing at the moment is right across the industry and also politically, the Lib Dems, Reform, SNP and Tories are all saying the same thing and uniting with farmers.
“What people need to understand is the farmers do not want to do this, but they are their wit’s end because this potentially threatens the custodianship of many family farms.”
On Wednesday a cabinet row erupted after Ms Reeves rejected a bid by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to exempt some older farmers from the tax.
The Treasury insisted it won’t back down – even in the face of mass protests.
A DEFRA source told The Sun Environment Secretary Steve Reed is “fully behind” the Chancellor’s raids.
But other staff in the department have accused the Treasury of blindsiding them with the policy, saying they were only warned of it the night before the Budget.
A DEFRA spokesperson said: “With public services crumbling and a £22 billion fiscal hole inherited from the previous government, we have made the difficult decision to reform Agricultural Property Relief in a balanced and fair way.
“All Ministers support the policy and it will not change.”
Treasury officials insist the tax raid, set to raise £500m, will only hit a wealthy 7 per cent of farmers.
But the National Farmers’ Union dispute the figure and believe 70,000 people could be impacted.
The NFU warned it will “snatch away the next generation’s ability to carry on producing British food”.
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith told Never Mind The Ballots he will “absolutely” be at Wednesday’s protest.
He said: “I will be meeting my farmers and they are rightly fully seized of the difficulties and the attack that we are seeing on farms.
“Once you bring these measures into inheritance, driven by prejudice of the Labour party against wealth, who knows where it will stop?”
In his first address as Prime Minister to the conference, he praised the election of 27 MPs in July, making Wales a “Tory-free zone”.
Protest organisers Digon yw Digon – which translates as Enough in Enough – said: “Our Government isn’t working or listening to us.”
Gareth Wyn Jones, a Welsh farmer and YouTuber, said farmers will deliver a letter to Sir Keir which begins: “Don’t bite the hand that feed you.”
Mr Wyn Jones told Sky News: “They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically.
“We need Government support, not more hindrance, so we can produce food to feed the nation.”
Mr Wyn Jones disputed the Government’s estimation that only 500 farming estates in the UK will be affected by the inheritance tax changes.
He said: “Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.”
ROW WORTH OVER £1M
A row has erupted over the new taxes for farms worth more than £1 million, exacerbated by uncertainty about the figures Ms Reeves based the decision on.
Treasury data shows that around three-quarters of farmers will pay nothing in inheritance tax as a result of the controversial changes announced in the Budget last month.
However, farmers have challenged the figures, pointing instead to data from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs which suggests 66% of farm businesses are worth more than the £1 million threshold at which inheritance tax will now need to be paid.
Sir Keir did not mention the inheritance tax explicitly in his speech, but said he would defend the “tough decisions” his Government has made.
Are you attending the protest? Email ryan.merrifield@thesun.co.uk
“Make no mistake, I will defend our decisions in the Budget all day long, adding: “I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality.
“I will defend the tough decisions that would necessary to stabilise our economy and I will defend protecting the pay slips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales, finally turning the page on austerity once and for all.”
He also hailed the “record figure” of £21 billion allocated to Wales in the Budget.
Labour won 27 out of 32 Parliamentary seats in Wales in the general election, wiping out the Conservatives, who now have no MPs in Wales.
Jeremy Clarkson’s fury as farmers blocked from ‘tractor tax’ protest
JEREMY Clarkson told of his fury earlier this month after farmers were apparently blocked from protesting in London against Labour’s hated “tractor tax”.
He was among hundreds planning to attend a rally on November 19 against Budget inheritance tax hikes that will hit agricultural properties.
But The National Farmers’ Union – which will still lobby MPs on that date – urged members not to protest because of “legal issues”.
London’s Met Police responded by insisting it had not banned any march.
Clarkson’s Farm star and Sun columnist Jeremy said he booked a coach to travel to London to protest alongside agricultural workers from the Cotswolds.
He has now shelved the plans — but told of his anger that pro-Palestine and Just Stop Oil demos seem to get better treatment.
Jeremy, 64, said: “Perhaps if I had draped my tractor in a Palestinian flag it would be different.
“It seems that if you are from Just Stop Oil or protesting about Gaza, you can do what you want. But farmers are treated differently by a government that is waging an all-out war on the countryside.
“We wanted to protest in a dignified and sensible way — which was why I had booked the coach rather than causing disruption with tractors and farming vehicles.”
Jeremy, who owns Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, added: “I am in a fortunate position but I feel desperately sorry for other farmers who are very angry and anxious about the future.
“The NFU have said officially they don’t want to disrupt people’s lives, but I have it on very good authority they have been told to do this.”
The union is restricting its lobbying event to 1,800 registered members and urging against street protests.
Sir Keir said Wales has “carried the torch” for the Labour Party while Conservatives were in power in Westminster.
“We are ready for a new era. Labour Wales and Labour Britain pulling in the same direction, the full force of our nation once again serving the people of Wales.”
The Government also announced £13 million of funding to help steelworkers affected by job losses in Port Talbot, including to set up their own businesses.
It will go to workers, families and businesses affected by the closure of the blast furnaces at the giant Tata Steel site.
Welsh First Minster Eluned Morgan, who took over as the leader of Welsh Labour in August, will announce during the party conference £22 million to tackle NHS waiting lists in Wales, in addition to £28 million already pledged.
6
6
