Hundreds of British farmers demonstrated on Monday on their tractors outside Downing Street, the British Prime Minister's residence in the heart of London, to protest against changes to the country's inheritance tax targeting certain farms.
The day-long rally, organised by the Save British Farming organisation, brought gridlock to roads in central London.
It came as parliamentarians debated an e-petition over current tax exemptions for working farms.
When presenting its first budget on 30 October, the Labour government announced that, from April 2026, the inheritance tax exemption for British farms would no longer apply to those worth more than £1 million (€1.20 million).
Farms will now be taxed at a rate of 20%, half the usual inheritance tax rate.
The petition, which calls to keep the exemptions, has attracted 149,000 signatures.
‘What we want to see is a complete abolition of inheritance tax,’ said Silas Jack, an agricultural engineering student who hopes to take over his father's farm in the future. According to Jack, "the land is our business," not private capital.
A few tractors down the road, Toby Cawston, who had come with some farmer friends, confirmed that with this tax, he would be forced to sell at the time of inheritance.
"We don't earn enough money to continue and pay inheritance tax," Cawston said. "Unfortunately, we're unlikely to be listened to."
This is the third time farmers have gathered in the UK capital since Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the measure last year.
