Farmers join massive tax demonstration in capital

FARMERS from South Oxfordshire joined a convoy of more than 1,500 tractors which gathered in Whitehall in London on Monday to protest at new tax rules.

They travelled along routes into London in the early hours of the morning, gathering more and more farmers as they progressed.

In October, the Government announced that from April next year it will charge a 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth more than £1million for the first time since 1984.

The protest coincided with a meeting of MPs in Westminster Hall where they considered an e-petition with more than 148,000 signatures.

The petition argues that changing inheritance tax relief for agricultural land will devastate farms nationwide, forcing families to sell land and assets just to be able to stay on their property.

David Waters, 60, a third-generation arable and beef cattle farmer who looks after about 5,000 acres of land between Oxford and Stokenchurch, organised the convoy of farmers who travelled from Wales to London along the A40.

He said: “There have been 50 to 100 protests around the country. We did one a few weeks ago when the Defra minister was there but this was the biggest one yet. We had people from Devon, from the Cotswolds and Lincolnshire.

“We have not been listened to. We have no security and we need to rely on our food.

“We want to show the Government that they should take us seriously and they need to change the rules.”

Mr Waters is concerned about the suicide rate in the farming community increasing as a result of the tax changes. He said: “We have to support people. There are older generations who are worrying about handing farms over.

“There’s talk about a higher rate of suicide in the next year and I think it’s a real concern.”

David Passmore, who has owned 500 acres of land in Ewelme since 1959, travelled by train at 9am to join the farmers in London.

He believes farmers’ anger will continue to grow until they get their way or the next election.

Mr Passmore said: “There’s more anger and it’s definitely not going to go away. We were discussing how it will affect us but it doesn’t look like there’s going to be any backing down by the Government, so it’s very difficult to know how it will unfold.

“There’s a lot of people, whether it’s businesses or older farmers, that agree, so there’s plenty behind us. We are all united and won’t give up.

“You have got a lot of people who have been told by Defra not to give their farms away, so why should they give it away now?

“It’s an appalling policy and bad government with no discussion. People have no way out of it.

“It’s just a rubbish policy and an inhumane tax for people who don’t have a way out. That is why we will not go away. Farmers are only going to get more and more stirred up about it.”

Labour has defended the plans, insisting it will not make a U-turn and that most farms would not be affected.

But Mr Passmore said: “A senior minister said that farming, and therefore food, is not important to them — extraordinary.

“The family farm tax will affect food availability and price. If you tax away a farmer’s business, food production will disappear.

“If you put a tax on a fisherman so that he has to sell his trawler, how on earth do you expect him to carry on fishing? They know they have got it wrong but won’t admit it. The farmers who it will mainly affect are the ones caught who don’t have seven years left and others who get ill.

“There’s a lot of anger and it will not go away. We are fighting the whole inheritance issue on behalf of the nation — nobody is for a death tax on your parents’ taxed savings.”

David Dawes, 59, owns seven acres of land at Woodside Farm in Church Lane, Remenham, and rents another 300 acres from four nearby landholders.

He has 140 head of cattle on the farm, which he inherited from his father Donald, who died six years ago.

He also runs another business, Dawes Engineering, from a workshop on the farm, which services other farms in the area.

Mr Dawes had planned to attend the protest but couldn’t due to family commitments.

He is also concerned about the wellbeing of the older generation who will not be able to pass on their assets.

He said: “I think it will affect more than the Government is letting on and lots of things are going to be lost.

“The annoying thing is that the rules have been changed so you can’t use the seven-year rule now.

“There will be a lot of the older generation who will think the old rules apply, so I think there will be a lot of suicides in the next year.

“The average age of a farmer is 60, so there are farmers who are older than that and thought they would be able to pass it down with no problem.

“We are all locked up in assets but we have very little cash. We don’t make enough to pay a huge bill.

“It’s not fair to bring in this rule. They have to delay it so that the generation can sort it out and not be cornered.

“It’s very worrying because what are my kids going to do and what’s farming going to be like in the future? It’s very scary.”