Treasury minister James Murray made a not-so-smart move when he told worried farmers to “find out about how inheritance tax works“ (which many found quite rude)
Over 10k farmers showed up near Whitehall on 11/20/24 to show their anger about the new tax rules; the government wants to put a 20% inheritance tax on farms that cost more than £1m
I can understand there is a real strength of feeling about the decision that we have taken
The protest got support from some big-names: Kemi Badenoch‚ Nigel Farage‚ and even Jeremy Clarkson joined in - they all think this tax thing isnt working out. Lord Lloyd-Webber was there too saying its gonna hurt farmers real bad
Labour party has its own mess to deal with: Baroness Mallalieu (whos been in the Lords since early 90s) thinks the party is too city-focused. Even though Sir Keir Starmer says most farms will be fine‚ some Labour MPs dont agree:
- Steve Witherden thinks they need to change stuff
- Andrew MacNae isnt sure if family farms are safe
- Steve Reed claims only 500 farms will pay more - but farm people say thats wrong
The whole thing is making a real mess but Number 10 and Treasury folks arent backing down - even though everyone keeps telling them it might mess-up family farms and make our food situation worse