FARMER PROTEST UPDATES: We will 'keep going until we win' says organiser as 1,400 tractors crowd Parliament

Organisers of yesterday's (February 10) rally vowed to ‘keep going until we win'. as more than 1,400 tractors and over 35,000 people poured into Whitehall in protest at Government plans to change Inheritance Tax.

Liz Webster, founder of Save British Farming and event organiser was joined on stage by all four NFU leaders and said the event sent a clear message to the Labour Government of how deeply the proposed tax will harm family farms and also of how determined the industry is to keep the issue in sharp focus.

"I am immensely proud of what the farming community achieved, we dazzled London," said Ms Webster. "While the Government try to ignore us, the British people are swinging behind us. This is a marathon not a sprint. But I promise we will keep going until we win."

Addressing the crowds, NFU president Tom Bradshaw spoke about Government betrayal, branding the changes to IHT as ‘a death tax which is unaffordable and unacceptable'.

"When we first came to Westminster on November 19, I do not think the Government knew what had hit them and you came again with your tractors in December and we are here again today. The message is getting louder. The message is getting clearer," he said.

"Let us use our voices, let us stand loud and proud and make sure those politicians hear every word which comes from hear today. The Government has woken a sleeping giant and we have to keep the pressure up. And if the Government thinks we will go away then they do not understand. They do not understand you and they do not understand farming."

Don't miss all the action from the event

Speaking ahead of his appearance today, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said it was vital ‘farmers kept the pressure on'.

"We have to keep this as a live issue so the Government is aware that it has not gone away," he told Farmers Guardian. "Today's event is another opportunity to do that."

Mr Bradshaw said he had also been in Westminster to speak to MPs ahead of a debate on the changes to Inheritance Tax, which is due to take place at 4.30pm today. The event was triggered by an e-petition on the plans which amassed 150,000 signatures.

"I have been inside with a group of younger NFU members putting the case to MPs and I will be back in there later to see what they have to say in the debate.

"It is all about speaking to people - making the Government think again and make some changes," he said.

"As farmers it is great that we are continuing to unite and build the pressure which must be done in a respectful and peaceful way. We want to maintain public support which is a vital part of this."

However, despite farmers' actions, Mr Bradshaw said from a government perspective it seemed to be ‘business as usual'.

"We have got to just keep building the pressure and hope we can impress on ministers why they need to change," he added.

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Organised by Save British Farming founder Liz Webster, in a podcast with FG last week Ms Webster said this protest should be a showcase of unity.

NFU

NFU president Tom Bradshaw will also make a speech at today's rally, as part of 'Change Your Tune Starmer', an event running alongside. Mr Bradshaw will address the gathering from 3.15pm, with Welsh sheep farmer Gareth Wyn-Jones, food poverty campaigner Dominic Watters and CLA deputy president Gavin Lane.

馃攰 : "If Gov thinks we'll go away, they don't understand you, they don't understand farming and they don't understand farmers." 馃毃

馃搷 NFU president Tom Bradshaw addressing packed crowds at today's in London. 馃摚馃
— Farmers Guardian (@FarmersGuardian)

NFU Scotland

In his first trip out of the office as NFU Scotland president, newly-elected Andrew Connon said: "NFU Scotland, and the other UK farming unions, are calling on the Treasury to pause, re-think and properly consult due to the serious negative impact the proposals for inheritance tax (IHT) reforms would have on growth and employment in the agricultural sector, the wider rural economy and on the nation's food security.

"We strongly believe that proper consultation would ensure that any reforms to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) will better enable the UK Government to meet its fiscal objectives; working family farm businesses would not be arbitrarily broken up on death and the land available for agricultural tenancies would not be reduced."

Mr Connon also highlighted the 'growing number of independent studies' contradicting the Treasury's figures; which show that the rural economy and Britain's food security would be much more greatly threatened than the Government believes.

"The government has misjudged this, has not consulted, and must get around the table to discuss it so that we can allow family farming businesses to farm for the next generation."

Gathering at Whitehall

11-year-old Fraser Jack from Banbury is showing his support for family farms. 馃憦馃憦

馃搷, London
— Farmers Guardian (@FarmersGuardian)

馃棧锔� ‘Government need to wake up' 馃毃馃

Beef farmer Matthew Pickford from Thame, Oxfordshire, gives his thoughts on today's . 馃殰

Full protest updates 馃敆 — Farmers Guardian (@FarmersGuardian)