Farmers protest against inheritance tax on farms ‘blocked’

Farmers have been blocked from staging a protest against the government’s ‘tactor tax’, Jeremy Clarkson has claimed.

The former Top Gear presenter was among hundreds planning to rally on November 19 against the Budget change to inheritance tax for farms.

But the National Farmers Union (NFU) said a mass demonstration has been cancelled due to ‘legal issues’.

It added numbers will be capped at 1,800 rather than having protesters ‘simply turn up in numbers in Westminster in the streets or the open spaces’.

The Metropolitan Police insisted they ‘have not banned anyone from marching on this date’ and that its officers ‘will work with anyone wishing to organise a peaceful protest’.

Clarkson, 64, who owns Diddly Squat Farm in Chadlington, Oxfordshire, questioned why pro-Palestine and Just Stop Oil demos have had the green light to go ahead in greater numbers.

He told The Sun he had booked a coach down to London intending to stand alongside agricultural workers from the Cotswolds.

Clarkson said: ‘Perhaps, if I had draped my tractor in a Palestinian flag it would be different.

‘It seems that if you are from Just Stop Oil or protesting about Gaza, you can do what you want.

‘But farmers are treated differently by a government that is waging an all out-war on the countryside.

‘We wanted to protest in a dignified and sensible way – which was why I had booked the coach rather than causing disruption with tractors and farming vehicles.’

The union said in a message to farmers earlier this week: ‘There are legal issues which mean we can’t simply turn up in numbers in Westminster in the streets or the open spaces.

‘We cannot risk either member or public safety, or the loss of public support that could come from an illegal demonstration.’

Clarkson told the newspaper: ‘The NFU have said officially they don’t want to disrupt people’s lives, but I have it on very good authority they have been told to do this.’

The Met Police said: ‘We are aware that there are a number of events being planned currently in relation to the recent budget announcements affecting farmers.

‘The National Farmers Union have emphasised that their event at a conference centre in Westminster on November 19 will not be a protest. This is not on advice from the Metropolitan Police, and at no point have we banned anyone from marching on this date.

‘We will work with any organisation or individual wishing to organise a peaceful protest or demonstration in London and continue to speak with the NFU.

‘We are also aware of a separate rally being planned by a group of farmers in central London on the same date. We are speaking with the organisers to work with them as they plan their event.

‘The Metropolitan Police Service applies the same legislative framework to each and every notification that we receive, without fear or favour, in order to deliver our core policing responsibilities.

‘We don’t grant permission for protests, rallies or any other event to take place, rather we work with organisers to ensure we protect the public, prevent crime and disorder and minimise disruption to London’s communities.’

One of the most controversial measures in the Budget was a change to inheritance tax rules for farms, which will see a tax of 20% raised on agricultural assets above £1 million.

Farming unions and opposition critics have demanded the Government reverse the move, which they argue will hamper food production and harm smaller farms.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw this week said he had never seen ‘the weight of support, the strength of feeling and anger’ over the plans to impose inheritance tax on farms.

Speaking after a meeting with Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray, Mr Bradshaw said there had been no resolution on the issue, adding: ‘We’ve made very passionately our perception clear, that this tax change is completely unfair.

‘It had been ruled out by the secretary of state in the run-up to the election and now there are many family farms right across the United Kingdom that are worried for their future.’

He said he had been receiving calls from people in their middle age who have been running successful businesses, but whose parents were still in the family house and partners in the business, and might not live for seven years – the minimum time after a transfer of assets for inheritance tax not to apply.

Mr Bradshaw said: ‘There’s no way through it for them.’

And he said: ‘We will continue to try and work with the Government to get to a resolution but something has to change.

‘I have never seen the weight of support, the strength of feeling and anger that there is in this industry today. Many of them want to be militant.

‘Now we are not encouraging that in any way shape or form, but Government need to understand that there is a real strength of feeling behind what this change means for the future of family farming in this country.’

The Government continued to insist the vast majority of farmers will still be able to ‘pass the family farm down to their children’ following the meeting.

A Government spokesperson said: ‘Ministers made clear that the vast majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.

‘This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. We remain committed to working with the NFU and listening to farmers.’

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