'I work in a posh area with rich footballers and celebs... and I'm being punished for it'

For Carolyn Richardson and her sister Angela Sidebottom there was never any doubt about their future career. Their dad had been a lifelong farmer, as had his dad. Now in their 50s, they have been working their family's land in Cheshire for decades.

Carolyn, 53, now runs Turner House Farm in Mottram St Andrew, a village popular with footballers and celebrities and part of Cheshire's so-called 'Golden Triangle.' Angela oversees nearby Brook House Farm.

They have a 320 head of cattle and around 2,000 ewes across both farms. Sadly, their dad Alan Slater died in 1999.

READ MORE: Five major Budget 2024 tax changes announced and how they will affect you

And when she dies, their mum Stella, now 80, wants to pass on the farms to them, as recognition of their hard work over the years, and to give them a steady livelihood.

But a detail in the budget left Stella feeling 'sick.' The new Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves announced an end to inheritance tax exemption for some farms. From April 2026, farms worth more than £1m will face an effective inheritance tax rate of 20 percent - half the usual rate of 40pc.

The move has been branded "disastrous" by the National Farmers' Union (NFU), with some farmers warning it would decimate the countryside. A huge protest is taking place at parliament on Tuesday with tens of thousands of farmers potentially attending.

There are also fears that some elderly landowners may not have time to make use of existing rules to skip inheritance tax by passing on an asset seven years before death.

And the anger is being felt in rural communities up and down the country, including on the doorstep of Greater Manchester. "I felt as if someone had hit me in the guts" Stella said. She spoke to the Manchester Evening News at a public meeting near Knutsford this week organised to discuss and coordinate local opposition to the plans.

"I haven't slept. It's as if we've been hit by a train. I should have the right to pass on land that's been in the family for generations. Because they know to handle it. They know what to do with it, they have the machinery to work it. Farmers work in a bad environment and lots of them get injured. It's a very dangerous profession. It's not like being a doctor.

"We're being lumped in with multi-millionaire landowners" she continued. "Our farms are in the Golden Triangle, the footballer belt. As a result, they'll pile it on us, but we're merely producing food, just the same as the land up on Kinder Scout with a couple of sheep, or anywhere else.

"Rachel Thieves, as I call her, gave the best scenario which makes her look good. She has made out this isn't going to affect many farmers and I can categorically tell you, she's wrong. She's just trying hoodwink everyone" Carolyn said.

"The value of these farms can sound a lot but by the time you've totted up livestock, land, machinery, and buildings, it really isn't it. My daughter is married to a poultry farmer, he's just put a new shed up and it cost him half a million. For one shed.

"Unfortunately because of where we are, you don't get many acres for (our) money. But you still need the same acreage to make a living. It's just unfortunate we happen to be here, in an affluent area, and I feel like we are being punished for it. People might say we've chosen to live here but someone has to farm the land here."

Angela said: "We produce food for the country. That's our job. It's what we do. We feed people. But we're categorised as wealthy landowners, but we're not, its so wrong. One of these farms has been in our family since 1938. So I'm a fourth-generation farmer right here in Mottram.

"Everyone we know who is farming will be affected by this. We will either have to sell land to pay this tax, which means we'd have to scale back our business, which reduces our production and our ability to make money.

"Or we'd have to borrow money over many, many, years to pay it. But that would impact on not just us but our children. I have three children and two of them have grown up farming on the family farm. It could end up falling on their shoulders.

"Our future is very uncertain now. We're being penalised for working hard" she added.

Stella, Carolyn and Angela were among around 50 local farmers who attended the meeting to discuss the measures, and to plan protests against them, at The Crown Inn pub in Lower Poever, on Wednesday night.

Also there was Rob Mitchell, 31. He runs the nearby 320 acre Moseley Hall Farm. It also contains the well-known and popular Lambing Shed Farm Shop and kitchen, run by Rob's sister Kathryn, 35.

It is owned by Mike Mitchell, now 76, who took it over from his dad, Arnold Mitchell. He acquired it in the 1950s.

"All the work they've done is for nothing now" Rob said. "Why spend generation after generation working the farm, to pass it on, just to be hit by this.

"They've not spent lavishly. They could have just sold it. Say for example, the farm is said to be worth five million, my dad has never realised that during his life. You never really own a farm, you just look after it for the next lot.

"He could have sold it and packed off to Barbados, but he hasn't, because he wants to produce food. And I don't think people realise how much farmers subsidise themselves, to keep the food affordable. So I feel sorry for dad and others like him."

Rob says he thinks the measures could cost him and his sister "a couple of million" when Mike leaves them. It has left the siblings feeling very worried for the future. But they will not let go of their way of life. "Until I had to give up, I wouldn't give up. I would only sell it if I had to. As we are just so used to producing food", he said.

"It's as if we have to make politicians understand our situation but how can they not already understand and appreciate what we do for this country."

Mike said: "I'm devastated really. I didn't think they would go for it. It's a kick in the teeth. People might say 'well sell up' but it's not what you do. I took it on from my dad.

"I think this will make food more expensive. And will farmers will be as enthusiastic about working seven days a week when they know 20 percent is going to be taken away when they die?"

At the meeting, Tatton's Tory MP Esther McVey addressed the angry group. She said: "After the budget, I have had so many people contact me from different walks of life saying 'my god my life has been thrown up in the air somewhat.' But none more so than the farming community who have told me they will destroy farming moving forward.

"I'm working with the National Farmers Union (NFU), colleagues in the house and other groups to see what can we do to change what is in place, and for the government to realise how many people are going to be impacted."

What the government has to say

In a statement, the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) said: "The government’s commitment to our farmers remains steadfast. It’s why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production.

“We understand concerns about changes to Agricultural Property Relief but the majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.

“This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on.”