Farmers “are entitled to express their views” Sir Keir Starmer has said after he was asked whether police will treat Tuesday’s protest over tax changes in the same way as Just Stop Oil protesters.
Hundreds of farmers prepare to march through London to protest about tax changes unveiled by Chancellor Rachel Reeves which could lead to the breakup of family farms.
Farmers have been told not to bring farm machinery to the mass protest in Westminster. Instead some have told GB News that they are planning to tie their shirts to the gates of Parliament to show the Government is taking the shirts from their backs.
Starmer was asked on Sunday by media outlets including GB News en route to the G20 summit of world leaders in Brazil whether police should treat the farmers’ demonstration as they would treat one organised by Just Stop Oil.
Sir Keir Starmer has defended his Government’s changes to inheritance tax rules
PA
Police have been criticised in the past for failing to intervene to stop Just Stop Oil and other environmental protesters from bringing parts of London to a standstill.
The Prime Minister replied: “They are entitled to express their views. I do understand their concerns. It’s important I reiterate the support that is going in, it is quite considerable.
“As to how the protest takes shape and what the response is, that will be a matter for them and the police for how they respond to it.”
The changes will see new taxes for farms worth more than £1million – and many have questioned the figures Reeves based the decision on.
Treasury data suggests around three-quarters of farmers will pay nothing in inheritance tax as a result of the controversial changes announced in the Budget last month.
Farmers have challenged the figures, pointing to Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs data which suggests 66 per cent of farm businesses are worth more than the £1million threshold at which inheritance tax will now need to be paid.
Earlier he was asked whether he accepted that farmers felt betrayed. He said: “I think it is very important that we support farmers. That’s why we’ve put £5billion in the Budget for the next two years into farming.”
In a typical case a farm worth up to £3million might be exempt by using other tax reliefs. He said: “That’s why I am absolutely confident the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected by this.
“It’s important for us to keep communicating how that works. Over the £3million, it’s then 20 per cent rather than the usual rate and it’s payable over 10 years. The threshold for a typical case is £3million.”
On Sunday, Daniel Zeichner, the farming minister, urged farmers to “look calmly” at the Government’s plans to make them pay inheritance tax and insisted that “the vast majority will be fine”.
