Northumberland farmer says 'every single farmer' in area will be affected by changes in budget

A Northumberland tenant farmer says "every single farmer" in his area will be affected by changes in the budget.

Daniel Spours, a tenant farmer from north Northumberland, was one of an estimated 10,000 people who marched on Westminster on Tuesday, including several children on toy tractors. Farming leaders have accused Chancellor Rachel Reeves of refusing to engage with them over controversial changes to inheritance.

Farmers have reacted with anger to the inheritance tax changes for faming businesses, which limit the existing 100% relief for farms to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Many more joined a separate rally in Whitehall protesting against last month's Budget, which also sped up the phase-out of EU-era subsidies as funding is switched to nature-friendly farming schemes.

Mr Spours travelled to Whitehall to protest against changes to inheritance tax and carbon rules which he said will affect the price of fertiliser. He told the PA News Agency: "We are about £60,000 worse off next year from payments that have been slashed by the Government.

"Going forward, there is more taxes to come on fertiliser that’s going to affect us hugely as well, so it’s looking pretty grim. I'm not a farm owner, I'm just a tenant, but we will still be impacted by business property relief."

Tom Bradshaw, NFU president, gave a speech to members taking part in the mass lobby ahead of their meetings with MPs at Church House, in Westminster, in which he became emotional as he highlighted the cost of the policy on farmers, as well as food security.

He said: "We know the horrendous pressure it is putting on the older generation of farmers who have given everything to providing food for this country.

"We know that any tax revenue will be taken from our children and raised from those that die in tragic circumstances, all within the next seven years. The human impact of this policy is simply not acceptable, it's wrong."

Mr Bradshaw also warned that the policy was "kicking the legs out from under British food security."

He added: "Our request is very simple, this is a policy that will rip the heart out of Britain’s family farms, launched on bad data with no consultation, and it must be halted and considered properly."

After his speech, Mr Bradshaw told journalists: "We've offered to meet with the Treasury to give them solutions to this, unfortunately, so far, Rachel Reeves has refused to engage."

Mr Bradshaw said the latest analysis by the NFU suggested 75% of commercial farms, over 50 acres, would be affected by the changes.

However, Environment Secretary Steve Reed told the PA News Agency that only a few hundred farms would be impacted, rather than the tens of thousands claimed by the critics of the inheritance change. He also denied that Labour, which has many more MPs in rural areas since the general election, did not understand the countryside.

Mr Reed said: "This Labour Government has just allocated £5 billion to support sustainable food production in the UK. That's the biggest budget of that kind in our country’s history and it shows that we’re backing farmers."

The Environment Secretary outlined other measures to support farmers on issues such as flooding and trade, adding: "All of that shows farmers that this is a government on their side and the changes to inheritance tax will affect only around 500 farms. The vast majority of farmers will pay nothing more."

A Government spokesperson said: "Ministers from both HMT (Treasury) and Defra have regularly engaged with the NFU, including the Secretary of State, Farming Minister and Exchequer Secretary."

Join our Northumberland WhatsApp community

Join our Northumberland WhatsApp community for all the latest news Northumberland news direct to your phone.

To join you need to have WhatsApp on your device. All you need to do is choose which community you want to join, click on the link and press 'join community'.

No one will be able to see who is signed up and no one can send messages except the ChronicleLive team.

We also treat our community members to special offers, promotions, and adverts from us and our partners.

If you don't like our community, you can check out any time you like. To leave our community click on the name at the top of your screen and choose 'exit group'.

If you’re curious, you can read our privacy notice.

CLICK HERE TO JOIN