100 tractors in go-slow protest through Dover as farmers fume over inheritance tax changes
Published: 13:25, 27 November 2024
Updated: 16:53, 27 November 2024
A go-slow tractor protest rumbled through a Kent town as farmers vented their anger over Labour’s inheritance tax changes.
Pictures show the vehicles in Dover today (Wednesday), with one eyewitness saying about 100 came through the Whitfield roundabout onto the A2 towards the docks.
The protest has been arranged jointly by the Save British Farming (SBF) and the Fairness for Farmers of Kent campaign groups, according to Farmers Weekly.
One of the organisers is Matt Cullen, a beef farmer based near Canterbury, who told the website: “It’s time for farmers to stand up and fight back and it’s time to show the government that things will escalate more if they don’t sit down and talk to us.”
Those taking part are reportedly bringing food donations for local food banks.
They are demanding that the government axes its plans to impose a 20% inheritance tax (IHT) on farm assets worth £1 million or more from April 2026.
According to Farmers Weekly, both campaign groups say they are also furious about the government’s “abject failure” to deliver on its pre-election manifesto promise “to provide a fair deal for British farmers”.
David Catt, who farms a market garden south of Maidstone, is also taking part.
He told the website: “The Labour Party is supposed to be looking after hardworking British people, not crucifying them.”
Earlier this month, dozens of Kent farmers joined a protest rally in Westminster to demonstrate against the government’s new inheritance tax grab on their land.
The changes to inheritance tax rules announced in the Autumn Budget sent shock waves through Kent’s farming community.
Families who spent generations building up their farm businesses, often on very tight profit margins, fear the “destruction” of their way of life.
Martin Twyman, 84, whose farm was created by his father almost 100 years ago, told KentOnline his family would face a tax bill of almost £2 million when handed down if the new levy is brought in.
The owner of HW Twyman Farm at Littlebourne, near Canterbury, said: “I would love my family to continue the business that my father started - and for the next generation and their children.
“But the reality is my family could be left with a huge tax bill which would mean having to sell off lots of land - and then it would make it unviable.”
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Brad Harper