Thousands of farmers rallied outside Parliament today after the Labour government refused to back down from Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ Budget policy of new inheritance tax (IHT) laws.
The new laws will cause devastation for family farms, posing a serious risk to domestic food security and will see the price of the weekly shop rise, according to the NFU.
The 100 per cent rate of relief is being cut to 50 per cent after the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business assets from April 2026. Analysis has found that 102,041 farms in England could see a significant difference from the Treasury’s estimate that it will affect less than 500 farms a year – a figure that the Chancellor used to justify the policy.
It also comes after former Labour Adviser and Political Secretary to Tony Blair, John McTernan said that farming is “an industry we can do without… we don’t need small farmers.”
Today, Windsor MP Jack Rankin joined Conservative colleagues and farmers on College Green to protest against the Family Farm Tax, and met with Colin Rayner, a farmer in his constituency who will be impacted by the government’s plans.
Commenting, Jack said:
“I joined farmers from across the country to stand up against Labour’s destructive family farm tax.
“Farmers are the custodiams of our countryside and feed families across Britain. With another blatant political choice, Labour are threatening our food security and very existence of our rural communities.
“It was a pleasure to meet with Colin, a farmer in Colnbrook, who told me about the real impacts his farm will feel as a direct result of the Labour government’s decision.
“Chancellor Rachel Reeves has felt the full force of British farming and I hope she sees sense and overturns this devastating decision.”
Commenting, Colnbrook farmer Colin Rayner said:
“It’s about time the people of this country woke up!” Starmer’s betrayal isn’t just a slap in the face to farmers—it’s a direct assault on the future of British agriculture. These are families who’ve sacrificed for generations to preserve their land. Farms bombed in WWII. Lives lost in Flanders. Parents scraping by in the 1970s just to hold onto their farms.
“And Starmer thinks he can waltz in, sell them out, and we’ll all roll over? Think again. The reality is stark: even if he sold every farm in Britain, it wouldn’t be enough to paper over the NHS’s waste and mismanagement. This isn’t about funding healthcare; it’s about stripping rural Britain of its lifeblood.
“The British public needs to hear this loud and clear—without farmers, there’s no food, no future, no country worth fighting for. Starmer’s hour of lies will come back to haunt him. It’s time to wake up and fight for the farmers who’ve fed this nation for centuries.”
