Farmers go to war with Starmer as ten thousand plus descend on London
Farmers go to war with Starmer as ten thousand plus descend on London
Rural Britain has reached its last straw
A sea of wax jackets, wellies, and flat caps washed over Westminster today as over ten thousand farmers gathered to harvest their grievances with the Labour government.
Their main objective – to pressure the Chancellor into abandoning her inheritance tax plan which would impose a levy on farm land valued at over £1 million. Labour have attempted to assuage concerns by claiming the tax will only truly affect properties over £3 million due to other allowances, but farmers remain unconvinced.
Although Labour claims it will affect as few as five hundred farms, the measure could introduce a 20 per cent tax on up to two-thirds of family farms . A majority of farmers are said to be asset rich but cash poor, and thus most lack the liquidity required for steep inheritance bills. Many fear that the change will force them to abandon multi-generational family farms, and that agricultural conglomerates will capitalise on their desertion to swallow up British farming.
Children delivered this message today with signs saying “I want(ed) to be a famer”, teens waved posters jesting “the government is milking us dry”, and parents unveiled a large banner urging the government to “stop killing the people that feed you”.
Keir Starmer downplayed the resounding outcry of the farmers, revealing that he is not only a “toolmaker’s son” but also a man of the fields. The PM claimed, “my first job was on a farm, I grew up in the countryside, all of my entire family live in the countryside. I do get it and that’s why I am able to say with confidence that the threshold for a typical case of £3 million is a very high threshold… The vast majority of farms will be unaffected”. The revelation certainly did not sway the furious crowds who decried “Starmer the farmer-harmer”.
The protest, while disruptive to traffic, was largely without incident. Although Met Police are looking to discipline a few bold tractor drivers who toppled a no entry sign. Reports from the scene depicted an orderly and respectful crowd and several of the farmers even brought in boxes of fresh produce to offer to London’s food banks.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch made an appearance alongside demonstrators, vowing to “reverse this cruel tax” if Conservatives win the next election. Lib Dem leader Ed Davey concurred with Badenoch, saying, “this family farm tax isn’t just cruel - it's stupid too”.
In a rare moment of near-total opposition agreement, Reform’s Nigel Farage and Richard Tice also made their presence felt at the event, riling supporters to oppose the “urban elite who do not comprehend the countryside”.
Despite his celebrity, Farage’s appearance was overshadowed by that of Jeremy Clarkson, who has become the central figure behind the farmer protest movement. Speaking to a cheering crowd, Clarkson railed against net zero, regulations, and the budget which was a “hammer blow to the back of the head” of farmers. The Top Gear star turned reality-TV farmer also lambasted the BBC, who ruffled his feathers by alleging he only got into farming to exploit the inheritance tax loophole.
In a bizarre twist, Just Stop Oil, the radical environmentalist group famous for terrorising the public, was also out in support of the farmers today. A spokesperson for the group explained that the inheritance tax decision was another example of the “political elites betraying ordinary people”. It is unclear what Just Stop Oil could possibly know about ordinary people, but their attempted alliance with the populist right is quite fascinating nonetheless.
They say politics makes strange bedfellows, and that was certainly on display today as the nation’s farmers, Tories, Lib Dems, Reformers, disgruntled TV hosts, and radical environmentalists united against Reeves’s budget. This protest, while harmonious, could be just the first of many as farmer-anger peaks. A strange hill to die on for the Labour government.
Josh Schlicht
Reaction Reporter
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