Farmers will protest against changes to IHT at supermarkets

The national action is planned to take place on Friday, 17th January. It will see farmers parking their tractors in the supermarkets’ car parks for a few hours.

Farmers have been asked to protest peacefully. Banners highlighting the issue are welcome.

The organisers, who also arranged other farming demonstrations in recent months, said that the protest aims to show that British farmers are not backing down on the damage the Autumn Budget will cause.

Another goal is to show the strength of farmers’ resources that could be used in far more disruptive ways if necessary, they added.

READ MORE: Farmers deliver their produce to Chancellor Rachel Reeves 

READ MORE: Farmers invited to take part in National Day of Unity this January

READ MORE: OFC: Tractor protest held in Oxford as Steve Reed addresses farmers

Destructive Budget

A group of trade associations has recently called for a formal consultation, warning chancellor Rachel Reeves that changes to BPR and APR will starve their members and the economy of investment, leading to forced, premature business sales and resulting in job losses right across the country. 

In an open letter, led by Family Business UK and signed by thirty-two trade associations that represent more than 160,000 UK family-owned businesses and farms, the businesses explained the consequences of the changes to Business Property Relief and Agricultural Property Relief. 

The associations said that the changes to these policies will have a “severe and long-lasting” impact on these businesses and the livelihoods of the millions of people they employ.  

The companies and the economy will be starved of much-needed investment, leading to forced, premature business sales and the loss of jobs in constituencies across the country. 

The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) has produced a report showing that the government had underestimated the number of farmers affected by a factor of at least five, which is 75,000 people over a generation, not 500 in 2026/27.

From April 2026, the first £1 million of combined business and agricultural assets will continue to attract no inheritance tax. But, for assets over £1 million, inheritance tax will apply with 50% relief. 

The change came despite significant lobbying from the farming industry and a statement from the now Defra secretary of state Steve Reed last year that Labour had “no intention of changing APR”. 

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