Small farmers blast Rachel Reeves' 'madness' - 'she hasn't got a clue'
EXCLUSIVE: Nigel Farage addressed furious farmers this morning who urge the Chancellor to "go back to school".
Furious farmers have blasted Rachel Reevesâ Family Farm tax as âutter madnessâ as they urge Labour to âre-do their sumsâ. Agricultural workers gathered in Belmont Farm, north London this morning where Nigel Farage and industry professionals spoke on the Inheritance Tax that farmers are facing.
Fourth generation farmer Alan Hughes, from Shropshire, has suggested that the Chancellor should âgo back to schoolâ as her calculations do not add up.
Mr Hughes, 36, told the Express.co.uk: âI'm here because we are a small farm of 300 acres. We only own 65 out of the 300 and we rent the rest. Yet, we will be paying this inheritance tax on 65 acres, a small farm where we have to run two diversifications to make ends meet.
âTo Rachel Reeves Iâd say youâd better go back to school and do some maths because by my figures she hasn't got a clue.â
Mr Hughes spoke on stage during the meet-up this morning, where he spoke about the difficulties him and his family will face when the tax takes effect in April 2026.
He continued: âWe couldnât afford to pass it on at the moment, we can't break even on the farm. I have to run two farm diversifications to cover the cost. The supermarkets are making millions off us for having a product for two weeks, which takes us two years to produce for less than the cost of production.
âItâs utter madness and theyâre jeopardising national food security for this country.â
Labour plans to impose a 20% inheritance tax on farms worth more than ÂŁ1 million - or ÂŁ3 million in some circumstances if two parents are passing on the farm.
Following this decision, an e-petition has amassed more than 148,000 signatures calling to keep the current inheritance tax exemptions for working farms, leading to MPs debating the topic today.
Marc Harvey, an animal nutritionist from Cornwall, mirrored the struggle of the Shropshire farmer explaining how his family farm at home âjust canât afford to pay meâ. Speaking to the Express.co.uk after giving a speech at the rally, Mr Harvey explained how buying land itself resulted in a debt which âcrippledâ his business for 20 years, and theyâre now going to be âslapped with another huge bill of inheritance taxâ.
âIt will just stop farms expanding, it will stop farms progressing.
âThe very best of us are only making 10% return per year profit, so we're making, what, ÂŁ40,000 a year profit at the end of it. So, if we're slapped with a huge inheritance tax bill, the numbers don't add up.â
He continued: âWhat would I say to Rachel Reeves? I would, in a polite way, say you've got to redo your sums, because the sums you made up to bring in the inherent tax are just miles out. It's the wrong way round. It's almost as if they confused the acres to hectares.â
Another passionate agricultural worker at the rally believes that Nigel Farage could save farming. Jack Nixon, 35, told the Express.co.uk: âIt will affect everyone. It will affect my kids, a lot of friends and a lot of people I work for.â
He said the tax has âgot to get going, all of it,â adding that business will slow down when the levy hits.
The Reform UK leader was the last to speak at the pre-rally meet-up this morning, announcing that his party would âreverseâ the âdeath taxâ if they were elected into government.
Mr Farage said: âIâm pleased to see the campaign is ramping up. Itâs growing right across the country.
âThe message Iâve been putting to them, I think theyâre listening too, which is 100 Labour MPs now represent rural seats â if they see local communities getting behind these families, theyâre going to start getting scared, and theyâre going to start putting pressure on No 10, and letâs face it, theyâre in pretty big trouble already.
âSo I think if this campaign is persistent and peaceful, they can get change.â