East Herts Reform UK members join Jeremy Clarkson and Kemi Badenoch at farmers’ inheritance tax protest

Four members of the new Reform UK Association for East Herts joined farmers marching in Westminster against Labour inheritance tax changes.

Vice-chair Jill Dwyer, campaign co-ordinator Jon Dann and members Rich Clark and Bishop’s Stortford entrepreneur Roy Parrish backed the agricultural protest on Tuesday (November 20).

Mr Dann said: “I found the protest very emotional, many stories of just how many farmers will be affected by this disgraceful raid on family farms.”

The quartet joined an estimated 20,000 farmers and their families to take part in the rally in Whitehall and Parliament Square against Labour’s so-called “tractor tax”.

Mr Parrish said: “Farmers are the lifeblood of any country. Nearly all – including those in the protest – will be those who are land rich and cash poor.”

In the General Election, Reform UK came third in the Hertford and Stortford constituency, with new association chair John Burmicz securing 15.4% of the votes.

North West Essex MP and Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also backed the protesters and met with their most high-profile supporter, celebrity farmer Jeremy Clarkson.

The former TV Top Gear presenter now stars in Amazon Prime show Clarkson’s Farm.

Since 2021 he has entertained viewers with his often inept attempts to run the 1,000-acre Diddly Squat Farm, near Chipping Norton in Oxfordshire.

In 2021, Mr Clarkson told The Times that avoiding inheritance tax was “the critical thing” in his decision to buy the property. However, at the protest, he told the BBC he wanted the land “to shoot”.

Mrs Badenoch, who won the leadership election at the start of this month, posted a picture of their encounter on X (formerly Twitter) and said: “It was a pleasure to chat to Jeremy Clarkson today about the farmers’ rally and the terrible impact Labour’s Budget will have on our rural communities. Jeremy and I agree we cannot allow the Government to get away with it.

“I spoke to thousands of farmers to relay a simple message: Labour don’t get farming. Their family farm tax is going to destroy farming as we know it. If we want to reverse this, we’re going to have to fight.”

The Government claims it is “committed to supporting farmers and rural communities, including helping families to pass their land on to the next generation”.

In her Autumn Statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) would be reformed.

APR reduces the tax farmers and landowners must pay when farmland is passed to the next generation. BPR is similar, but for business assets that are part of the estate.

From April 6, 2026, the full 100% relief from inheritance tax will be restricted to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property.

Above this amount, landowners will pay inheritance tax at a reduced rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40%.

This tax can be paid in instalments over 10 years interest-free, rather than immediately, as with other types of inheritance tax.

On top of spousal exemptions and nil-rate bands that people can access for inheritance tax, Labour claims two people can pass on up to £3 million.

The Government said it was “better targeting these reliefs to make them fairer, protecting small family farms”.

According to its figures, the top 7% – the largest 117 claims – account for 40% of the total value of APR. This costs the taxpayer £219m. The top 2% of claims (37 claims) account for 22% of APR, costing £119m. The reforms are expected to affect the wealthiest 500 estates each year.

The Government said: “It is not fair for a very small number of claimants each year to claim such a significant amount of relief when this money could better be used to fund our public services.”

At the Budget, the Chancellor also announced £5 billion to help farmers produce food over the next two years alongside £60m for the Farming Recovery Fund.

The Liberal Democrats’ view is that Labour’s tax changes threaten thousands of small family farms.

The party’s MPs joined the protest, arguing: “Farmers are absolutely vital to this country. They put high-quality food on our tables and look after our countryside – without them, we would all be worse off.

“After years of the Conservatives taking rural communities for granted, farmers hoped that a new Government might give them the respect and care they deserve.”

The Green Party’s food, agriculture and rural welfare spokesperson, Emily O’Brien, said: “Farmers are feeling abandoned. They have suffered badly from Brexit, both via detrimental trade conditions and reduced subsidies.

“Tax breaks for agricultural land have inflated land values, making it harder for both new entrants and existing farmers.

“It is right to clamp down on those who buy farmland to avoid tax and the Green Party strongly supports wealth taxes.

“But we also need the Government to take action to ensure that hard-working farmers can earn a decent income. In particular, in the face of our climate and nature crises, we need subsidies to focus on encouraging farmers to shift to nature-friendly farming.

“This will protect our food security and support the rural economy while allowing wildlife to recover.”