Farmers across UK to rally in London against 'devastating' budget

Published on : 1 Nov 2024

The government's autumn budget has been met with widespread criticism by farming groups

Farmers across the UK will descend on central London later this month as part of a rally against the government's budget which they say will have a 'devastating' impact.

Organised by the NFU, the 'mass lobby of MPs' will take place at the Church House conference centre in Westminster, on Tuesday 19 November.

The union said that budget changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) would deal a 'hammer blow' to farming families.

Tightening margins, record inflation, extreme weather and increased production costs meant that many farmers are now at 'breaking point' and 'unable to absorb any more cost burden'.

Changes announced in the Labour government's budget could also increase food costs to consumers, adding pressure to many still experiencing the cost-of-living crisis.

Tom Bradshaw, the NFU's president, said the current plans to change APR and BPR needed to be 'overturned, and fast'.

He said: “Farmers have been left reeling from the changes announced in the budget which demonstrate a fundamental lack of understanding of how the British farming sector is shaped and managed.

“Farmers are rightly angry and concerned about their future and the future of their family farms, having been reassured by minsters in the lead up to the budget that APR and BPR changes were not on the table."

The NFU explained that the Treasury’s figures which claim this will only affect one in four British farms are 'misleading'.

It said that 'very few' viable farms would be worth under £1m, but lots of smallholdings and houses with a few acres let for grazing might be.

The asset value of genuine food-producing farms will be high, given the size they need to be to remain viable businesses, it said.

However, that’s the value of the asset, with the union adding that it doesn’t reflect its profitability which is often, and increasingly, very low.

“The government does not understand that family farms are not only small farms, and that just because a farm is an asset, it doesn’t mean those who work it are wealthy," Mr Bradshaw said.

"Every penny the chancellor saves from this will come directly from the next generation having to break up their family farm. It simply mustn’t happen."

In Wednesday's (30 October) autumn budget, the government announced it will reform APR and BPR from April 2026.

This means that in addition to the existing nil-rate bands, the 100% rate of relief will continue for the first £1m of combined agricultural and business assets and will be 50% thereafter.

The government also announced that it is accelerating the end of the direct payment phaseout, meaning no farm will receive more than £8,000 in 2025, which, in some cases, is a cut of more than 90%

The National Living Wage will also see an increase of 6.7%, making it £12.21, while the National Minimum Wage for 18 to 20 year olds will rise by 16.3% to £10 per hour.

Finally, the agriculture budget will be frozen at the same level it has been since 2014, despite repeated calls for a significant increase to it.

Mr Bradshaw said that at the London rally, British farmers will ask their MPs to 'look them in the eye and tell them whether they support this'.

He said: “MPs need to understand the consequences of these actions which is why we are mobilising our members for a mass lobby in the coming weeks.

“There’s still time for the government to accept they’ve got this wrong, and my message to ministers is that they should do the right thing and reverse this awful family farm tax.”

The NFU, which represents 70% of farmers and growers across England and Wales, has organised the mass lobby to take place in Church House, London on 19 November.