'Deeply unjust!' British Farmers issue urgent plea to reverse family farm tax amid Keir Starmer Winter Fuel U-turn in fear they will 'walk away'

The NFU, which warned of the devastating impacts if changes are not reversed, is now pressing for similar consideration for older farmers who are concerned about the impact of proposed inheritance tax changes set to come into force in April 2026.

The Chancellor announced last Autumn that, while there would continue to be no inheritance tax due on combined business and agricultural assets worth less than £1million, above that there would be a 50 per cent relief, at an effective rate of 20 per cent.

According to the NFU's impact analysis, the proposed inheritance tax changes could affect as many as 75 per cent of farming families.

The impact of these changes has resulted in elderly farmers feeling like a burden on their families, according to the organisation.

The NFU and other tax and farming experts have proposed an alternative solution known as the "clawback", which they claim would be cost neutral to the Government while avoiding devastating impacts on farming families and rural communities.

NFU Deputy President David Exwood, who runs a mixed arable and beef farm in Sussex and represents approximately 45,000 NFU members across the country, told GB News that the challenge of the family farm tax has created "an uncertainty, frustration and anger with the government, the like of which we have rarely seen."

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Reflecting on Labour's first year in office, Exwood described the Government's policy making as "clumsy", highlighting that the farming community have lost trust in Reeves and Starmer.

He added: "Farming confidence is at an all-time low. It was low when the government won the election last July. It has sunk to a new low since then, and that has to be laid at their door."

He warned that if changes are not reversed, then farmers will continue to walk away from the production industry, resulting in a drop in food security in Britain.

Exwood told the People's Channel: "They've said for nine months now they weren't going to move on with the fuel payments, and they have.

"It's a very similar issue, particularly those older farmers who do not have time to adjust to the new measure.

"This is a deeply unjust and unfair attacks that has been brought in in a really disastrous way."

The Deputy President of the union said: "They must recognise the impact that it is having on the industry and make some changes.

"If they can do it for winter fuel, they can definitely do it on the inheritance tax of farmers. It's quite easy to do."

In a statement published by the NFU, President Tom Bradshaw said the Government's change on winter fuel payments "shows the Government is willing to listen to concerns about the elderly".

He said: "We're now urging them to extend that same support to elderly farmers who have spent their lives feeding the nation, and who now find themselves in an incredibly difficult position.

"Many are deeply worried not just about their own future but about becoming a financial burden on their families.

"Whatever our other disagreements about the family farm tax, we cannot imagine ministers ever meant to put older farmers in this awful position."

Public opinion appears to be against the Government's position, with research by More in Common finding that the "family farm tax" is among the top three most unpopular policies that the public has heard about.

Bradshaw emphasised that the NFU had put forward "a credible alternative" in the clawback option.

He said: "It's a fair and balanced solution that should be reviewed.

"There is still time to change course. Just as the government has listened to the public and MPs on winter fuel payments, it must now listen again, to protect the people who have worked the land and produced our food for generations."

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was among those protesting for a policy reversal, calling the tax "nothing short of a betrayal against our agricultural industry and rural communities."

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch also disagrees with the Government changes to the inheritance tax for farmers, branding the policy "immoral".

The Government said it was still committed to supporting farmers and "the vital role they play to feed our nation".

Despite multiple Freedom of Information requests, the government has refused to publish the financial analysis behind its decision.