'I’ve been a Shropshire farmer for 45 years - Labour’s inheritance tax change is pointless and vindictive'
Watch as we interview farmers protesting against the government’s change to inheritance tax outside the Labour Party Conference in Liverpool.
Farmers protesting against a change to inheritance tax outside the Labour Party Conference have called the government’s policy “vindictive” and said “they do not understand country life”.
Demonstrators who gathered in Liverpool on Sunday September 28 held signs reading “Starmer help the farmer”, “No farmer, no food, no future” and “With our farmers”.
From April 2026, agricultural assets worth more than £1m (or up to £3m in some circumstances) will be taxed at 20%. On September 25, Prime Minister Keir Starmer told ITV News the government is not “going to change the policy”, which was announced during the Autumn Budget in October 2024.
One protester Lynne Hammond, who lives in Penrhyn Bay, but comes from a farming family in South Ribble, said: “I've still got family that have got farms in the area [South Ribble] and I appreciate what they do. They work very, very hard, seven days a week, very often without breaks and for very small profit margins.
“They [governments] do not understand country life, they do not understand farming life and they do not understand the family farming model. They forget they're getting up at 4.30, 5 o'clock every morning, they don't go to bed until the herd have been fed and watered so they have a very long day.”
Another demonstrator Charles Bridgeman, who manages a Shropshire estate, said: "I've been doing the job for 45 years. I'm 71 years old and I would not even dream of doing anything else and I want to carry on until I drop, but I want to be able to pass on the business to my children because if a large part of it has to be sold to pay an inheritance tax, it will just diminish the size of the business and these days you've got to have critical mass. You've got to be in business to a certain size to stay profitable.
“What they will raise annually from the changes to inheritance tax will run the NHS for one day. It's pointless. It's vindictive. I've seen governments come and go, and it's class warfare, they just hate farmers, mainly because farmers tend to be Conservative.
“I think we will be able to convince them that actually it won't raise the money they want for public expenditure. All it will do is discourage farmers from investing, from taking on more staff, for buying machinery. It's all negative. As a farmer and a land manager, I have to think positively because it's not an easy job. I do it because I love it.”
