Justifiable anger at bombshell Budget 

It would be a huge understatement to say the government’s Budget took farmers by surprise. After all, Labour had repeatedly ruled out any changes to inheritance tax – and insisted they had agriculture’s interests at heart.

No wonder that disbelief soon turned to anger at the Chancellor’s decision to impose 20% inheritance tax on farm assets worth more than £1m from April 2026. It was a bombshell that broke a  key promise made repeatedly to farmers.

Matter of trust

More so than many businesses, much of farming operates on trust. Even today, deals are still done on handshakes – and contracts between two parties are frequently verbal rather than written.

The government’s Budget betrayed that trust. Politicians and civil servants should know better than to treat the industry with such disdain. Farmers and farming families deserve so much more than the roughshod treatment they have received from our elected representatives throughout this whole sorry saga.

At best, the Budget revealed a worrying lack of understanding at the heart of government about agriculture – our key primary industry – and the farmers who keep the country safe by delivering food security for the nation.

At worst, the Budget exposed a deep-seated ignorance of how farming works and a callous disregard among gobernment ministers for the wellbeing of farming families – with many fearing they must sell up to meet a hefty tax liability.

Arrogance

It also highlighted an institutionalised arrogance about agriculture. The Budget announcement came out of the blue – without any consultation at all. Instead, the message was implicit: the government knows what’s best for you.

Despite the outcry that followed, both the Treasury and Defra then doubled down on the decision – insisting few farmers would be affected anyway. No surprise that 10,000 farmers descended on London to show otherwise.

Farming is at its best when everyone pulls together. The protest – and the mass lobbying of MPs by the NFU – forced the government to take a second look at its inheritance tax plans.

It will be a very long time before farmers believe or trust this government again. Yet the unnecessary anguish and heartache could have been avoided had ministers worked with farmers in the first place – instead of against them.

Johann Tasker, Editor