The streets of London echoed with the anguished cries of Britain’s farmers this week, as thousands marched on Westminster to protest controversial changes to inheritance tax laws. The proposed reforms, which would see farms worth over £1 million subject to a 20% levy when passed down within families, have been decried as the “final straw” by many in the agricultural community.
Addressing the crowd at the Country Land and Business Association conference, Environment Secretary Steve Reed acknowledged the deep sense of betrayal felt by rural communities. “We may not agree over the inheritance tax changes,” he conceded, “but this government is determined to listen to rural Britain and end its long decline.”
A Troubled Harvest
The proposed tax reforms come at a time of unprecedented hardship for Britain’s farmers. Squeezed for years by supermarkets, many now receive as little as 1p for every loaf of bread or block of cheese sold. The loss of EU subsidies post-Brexit has only compounded their woes, with incomes plummeting as extreme weather ravages yields.
For many, the prospect of being unable to pass on a viable business to the next generation is simply too much to bear. As National Farmers’ Union president Tom Bradshaw put it, the inheritance tax changes are “the final straw after decades of neglect.”
Sowing the Seeds of Change
In response to the escalating crisis, Reed has unveiled plans for a sweeping reform of Britain’s food system. Central to his vision is a new 25-year farming roadmap, which he describes as “the most forward-looking plan for farming in our country’s history.”
At the heart of the roadmap lies a commitment to “supply chain fairness” – ensuring that farmers receive a fair price for the food they produce. “I’m not prepared to let so many farmers keep working so hard for so little,” Reed declared.
Across the whole supply chain, the producers, the farmers, the growers, get relatively little of the money that a product is sold for… It’s quite often the producer or the farmer that has to bear the cost… and that’s not sustainable.
– Environment Secretary Steve Reed
A Countryside in Crisis
For many in rural Britain, however, fine words and distant promises offer little comfort. Victoria Vyvyan, president of the CLA, accused the government of “taxing us out of existence” and “embroiling” rural communities in a “stupid row about numbers.”
“We have been marginalized and condescended to, told to calm down,” she said, adding that farmers are “fearful of losing everything that they’ve worked for, borrowed for and hoped for.”
Reed acknowledged the depth of the rural-urban divide, admitting that “a proportion of rural Britain [is] out on the streets of London telling us, telling politicians and politics, that they feel ignored, alienated and disrespected.”
Bridging the Divide
Rebuilding trust between the government and the countryside will be no easy task. CLA figures show that the rural economy is 16% less productive than the national average – a stark reminder of the challenges facing Britain’s farmers.
Yet Reed remains optimistic that his reforms can heal the rift. By focusing on “making farming and food production more profitable in the decades to come,” he hopes to chart a new course for British agriculture – one that values the hard work and dedication of the nation’s farmers.
Whether his vision will be enough to bridge the yawning chasm between town and country, however, remains to be seen. For Britain’s embattled farmers, the fight for a fair deal – and a secure future – is far from over.
