Farmer Gareth Wyn Jones has demanded “respect” from Sir Keir Starmer after the Government’s “disgraceful” attack on Britain’s countryside.
Speaking to GB News, the sheep farmer hit out at Labour’s inheritance tax raid and declared things are getting “more ridiculous by the day”.
Highlighting the struggles he is facing just before Christmas, Mr Wyn Jones told GB News: “It’s getting more ridiculous by the day, I think. These champagne socialists are targeting the countryside. It’s a very sad time to be a farmer globally, to be honest with you.
“We’re seeing attacks now on the global community, the European farmers, with this influx of imports. We’ve got inheritance tax here. A lot of people don’t understand that food inflation is going up on a daily basis, and the poor people can’t afford good, nutritious, healthy food to feed their families. And this is all due to the Labour Government.”
Telling GB News about his father, Mr Wyn Jones stressed how hard his family have worked to keep the farm afloat.
He said: “My father sitting in the house behind me, he’s 89, he’s worked all his life. Never had the passport, never bought a new car, he’s always invested into the land.
“We can’t keep going. I’m going to be out here Boxing Day, Christmas Day, New Year’s Day, New Year’s Eve. I’m going to be out here every day watching after my livestock.”
Calling on the Government to “respect” Britain’s farmers, Mr Wyn Jones told GB News: “I don’t want sympathy, I don’t want handouts at all. All I’m asking, and I think every other farmer is asking, is a little bit of respect.
Farmer Gareth Wyn Jones demanded ‘respect’ from the Government after their ‘disgraceful’ attack on the countryside
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GB NEWS / PA
“This Government needs to be careful. I got up at half past four this morning, had a cup of tea and then I’ve been out here feeding the cows, I’ve got a few turkeys to clean and for my family and friends later on, and then I’m going round the sheep onto the hill and just making sure everything’s all right and get everything fed.”
Praising Mr Wyn Jones, host Eamonn Holmes paid tribute to the hard work of farmers across Britain: “The thing about it is when Gareth talks about what he does there, it’s like we go to the supermarket and we get something in a packet and we open it up, and he has to get it already for that packet.
“It’s real work. It’s real graft, and real respect to you, Gareth.”
Responding to Eamonn, the farmer told GB News: “And can I say one thing as well? Every single Government across the world will regret what they’ve done to the farming communities in the years to come, because it’s disgraceful. We’ve got mental health issues, we’ve got people taking their own lives and they haven’t listened.
Farmers have been protesting the Inheritance tax rise since the last Budget | PA
“There have been thousands of farmers protesting down in London, trying to get our opinions across, and they don’t even open the door. They don’t even listen. It’s disgraceful.
“As they’re drinking their oatmeal lattes in their ivory towers down in Whitehall, the farmers are still at it every single day trying to produce food to feed this nation.”
Asked by Eamonn who the “next Gareth” will be in the family to take over his farm, Mr Wyn Jones admitted: “There isn’t anyone there. I’ve got a son who’s keen to come in, but, you know, at this point, he’s on the farm working, but we can’t give him a decent wage.
“The scary thing is, the majority of farmers are over their 60s and getting older, and in the next ten years, it’s going to be crucial to bring new blood, fresh blood. And who the hell would want to come into this industry as it is now on its knees, not being able to get a real return?”
Heaping praise on GB News for the support the channel has offered to farmers since the tax raid was announced, Mr Wyn Jones said: “You know what? Nobody else is showing the farming community struggle like GB News, I’ll be honest with you.
“And I’ve been on GB News since the beginning. When I came on right at the beginning, people would call me right-wing, this and that, and you can see you’ve built a channel around honesty and integrity, and I can only thank you. And another thing I’d like to say is we need to thank the great British public, because they have been behind us.”
Mr Wyn Jones hailed GB News for supporting farmers ‘from the beginning’
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GB NEWS
Warning of the catastrophic impact of a farmer’s strike on Britain, he said: “Now imagine if the farming industry went on strike. People, imagine if these farmers said, enough is enough, we’re going on strike, we’re going to start to pull back the food.
“Imagine what would happen to this country, it would go militant. People would go hungry, there would be shelves that would be empty. We’re not going to do that, we’re fighting for our industry, but we’re fighting for Great Britain to build a better Britain on our bellies.
“We need the farming communities working with Government, and at this moment, it’s not happening. There’s a targeted attack on our countryside, and things need to change.
“We need a farming food revolution, and definitely I’m with education to go forward, to teach people how to cook, how to eat seasonally, and how to find nutritious food from British farms.”
In a statement, a Treasury spokesman said: “We are backing farmers with a record £2.7billion a year to grow their businesses and put more British food on our plates.
“Our inheritance tax changes protect public services while keeping it fair. Three-quarters of farm estates will pay nothing, the rest pay half the usual rate spread over ten years interest free.”