Furious farmers gathered in Westminster have told GB News there is "not a hope in hell's chance" of a Labour U-turn on their inheritance tax raid, unless they continue to protest.
Speaking to People's Channel National Reporter Will Godley, farmers Kathleen and Kurt said they are determined to "keep standing up for farmers", a year on from the announcement in the last Budget.
Despite the Met Police cancelling their protest at the 11th hour on Tuesday, thousands of farmers gathered in Westminster to protest the tax raid on the agricultural industry.
As Chancellor Rachel Reeves drove past them ahead of her Budget statement, farmer Tim Hayward told GB News that there was "no way that she didn't get the message".
He stated: "Seeing her drive past, people were tooting their horns, shouting at her, I don't think she could have missed the message, could she?"
Asked what the farmers are hopeful for as Ms Reeves delivers her Budget statement, Mr Hayward said: "Obviously we're still hopeful for the change, that's why we're here. We've been coming here for the last year now, and the Government has got a way out of this.
"They can design this policy to protect the people, it needs to protect the people. It needs to hit and raise more money for the public purse, and they seem to be refusing to come to do that. Why would any rational Government do that?"
Calling for the Chancellor to announce movement on the APR (Agricultural Property Relief) and BPR (Business Property Relief), he added: "Particularly we want to hear some movement on the API and BPR, but we're really worried about National Insurance on rental income, that's definitely one we're worried about.
Furious farmers declare there is 'not a hope in hell's chance' of a Labour U-turn on the inheritance tax raid as they protest on Westminster
|GB NEWS
"And raising the minimum wage again, that's all stuff which will impact small businesses like ours."
Speaking to farmers Kathleen and Kurt about why they decided to join the protest on Budget day, Kathleen said: "We're here to make a stand, because if you don't, then things will just happen out of your control.
"And we have to keep standing up for farming until there are changes, particularly to the APR and BPR. But there's lots of wider problems that make that tax unaffordable."
Kurt cast doubt on there being a Labour U-turn on the tax raid, adding: "Much like what Kathleen says, we the people are the power, aren't we?
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Thousands of farmers gathered in Westminster as the Chancellor delivered her Budget statement
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"If we don't stand up now, we're not going to have a hope in hell's chance."
Director of External Affairs at the Countryside Alliance, Mo Metcalf-Fisher, told GB News that the Government must "get the rural sector around the table" and "find a way out" of the inheritance tax row.
He explained: "I'm hoping to see, alongside everyone here today, the family farm tax at least rethought. Get the rural sector around the table and find a way forward out of this mess.
"The countryside, like the rest of the country, is really struggling right now. Not just our farmers, but our rural publicans, butchers, village shops, you name it. Everyone is struggling."
Mr Metcalf-Fisher told GB News that the Government must 'find a way out of this mess'
|GB NEWS
He added: "We need to see the Chancellor understand that the countryside, like the rest of the country, needs help, needs support, national minimum wage changes, income tax changes, other leaked changes to high value properties, pensions.
"That would impact the countryside massively. Rural businesses are struggling hugely. We hear from all sorts of businesses every day butchers, pubs, village shops, you name it.
"We just need the people in the Treasury, in Whitehall to start listening to the countryside, stop telling us what to do and work with us to find solutions that are going to actually work for the countryside."