Farmers stage go-slow tractor protest in Dover
28th November 2024
Tractors have taken to the streets again, this time in Dover, in the latest protest against the government’s inheritance tax raid on farmers.
Over 150 tractors carried out a go-slow protest on the streets of Dover yesterday (27th November), in response to the government’s plans to reduce IHT reliefs for farmers.
Tractors were seen driving on farmland, then onto the A2 before driving into Dover with signs including ‘No Farmers No Food No Future’ and ‘Back British Farmers’.
It’s the latest in a series of protests around the country, after chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that farms with a net worth over £1 million will only benefit from 50% agricultural property relief from April 2026.
Protests have also recently been held at the Welsh Labour Conference and in Truro, Cornwall, as well as the London rally on 19th November. Farmers are also marching on Holyrood, Scotland, today (28th November).
Calls to axe IHT and poor-quality imports
The latest protest in Dover was organised by Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers.
As well as calling for IHT to be axed, the campaign groups want to see a number of other measures in the Autumn Budget scrapped – the tax on imported fertiliser and double-cab pick-ups, and the changes to BPS payments.
The groups also urged ministers to end low quality food imports, achieve an EU veterinary agreement and rule out both a US trade deal and selling off farmland to Blackrock.
Save British Farming said Reeves and Keir Starmer “betrayed farmers with their disastrous Budget which delivered a poisonous cocktail and a hammer blow to British farming.”
Other demands included making the supply chain fair and protecting food security.
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“IHT will finish a lot of family farms”
David Catt, who farms with his brother and family near Maidstone, Kent, joined the protest in Dover.
He said: “After decades of ever decreasing farm incomes and tightening margins this inheritance tax will finish a lot of family farms.
“It’s designed to catch wealthy investors investing money using the tax loophole to avoid paying inheritance tax. But in fact it hits the families who can least afford to pay it.”
David added that the “ill-thought idea” could be put right by having an IHT exemption for families who have farmed the site in question for 10 years prior to the death and 7-10 years afterwards.
Investors trying to avoid IHT would then have to pay the full capital gains tax and death duties “as they should”, he said.
“We as an industry support this country and supply its food cheaper than ever before. Please support us, we need your support,” he concluded.
Catalyst for change
The government has insisted that it supports farmers but claims the majority will be ‘unaffected’ by the new IHT rules. However, farming groups such as the NFU and CLA have warned that large numbers of farmers will be hit by the tax.
Recent analysis by the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers estimates that up to 75,000 individual farm business owners are likely to be affected by the government’s changes.
The NFU president Tom Bradshaw recently attended a private meeting with the prime minister to discuss the impact of the changes to IHT on farms, among other topics.
Herefordshire farmer Martin Williams, one of the organisers of the London rally, also recently said that the protest had “opened doors to conversations that we never thought we’d have” – and believes it will be the catalyst for some change.
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