Sleepless nights and anger as farmers protest

A Welsh farmer has had sleepless nights and been left feeling "angry and scared" since changes to inheritance tax rules were announced.

Jacob Anthony, 31, is one of hundreds from Wales who have travelled to Westminster to join farmers from across the UK in protest against the plans.

He fears having to sell off parts of his family's 700-acre hill farm near Bridgend to afford a future tax bill, saying his forefathers would be "turning in their graves".

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said the government would not be changing the new inheritance tax policy on farmers.

Speaking to the BBC at the G20, he said he understood the concerns, but was "very confident the vast majority of farmers will be totally unaffected".

Asked if the government would change the policy, he said: "No. Once people appreciate that in a typical case it’s a £3m threshold before Inheritance Tax is paid then I think people will see the vast majority of farms are except, and even those over the threshold are only subject to a 20% tax that can be paid over 10 years."

He said he knew that in rural communities "we need really good schools and hospitals and houses people can afford to live in and they were the measures we invested in heavily in the budget".

The UK Treasury has said it would be taking "a fair and balanced approach" to inheritance tax relief in order to help fund public services.

In her budget last month, the Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced farms valued at over a million pounds would face inheritance tax charged at a rate of 20%, and payable in instalments over 10 years from April 2026.

Farmer, Jacob Anthony represents the fifth generation of his family to take on the farm at Cwm Risca in Tondu, with its 1,000 breeding ewes and 300 cattle.

"I want that opportunity to be able to pass it on to my children in the future and I feel like this government is taking that away from us," he said, apologising for getting "emotional".

"But I'm so, so angry with them," he added.

Jacob lost his grandfather in 2022, and his father Peter said that gave the family more of an insight into the potential challenges ahead.

"It's all quite raw with us in the fact that we've gone through and sorted a lot of affairs after my father," he explained.

Had inheritance tax been due then, "it would have finished the farm as it is", the pair believe.

Anwen Hughes, who farms near Llanarth in Ceredigion said the UK government had made "a complete mess" with how the announcement was handled.

She runs two farms - one with her husband and four children and another with her mother.

"We don't know whether our land prices will fall, what impact that will have on mortgages and loans and where do we stand in the future if we need to expand?" she asked.

Farmers are travelling to the protest in London by the bus-load, with coaches organised by both farming unions and local communities.

An official NFU "mass-lobby" event at a conference centre in Westminster was so oversubscribed that it has had to be split into several sessions, each accommodating 600 farmers.

One of these is specifically for Welsh farmers, who will then go on to meet with local MPs.

A separate rally is expected outside, organised largely online.

Ioan Humphreys, a fifth-generation sheep, beef and poultry farmer from Newtown, Powys - who has a large social-media following - is one of speakers set to address the crowd.

He also had a role in organising what was the largest protest ever seen outside the Senedd in February, comprised of farmers concerned over a range of issues including changes to their subsidies.

"You would have thought the UK government would have looked at that and thought 'hang on a minute'... rather than piling more pressure (on the industry)," he said.

"My concern is it's not just affecting farmers - it's all the local businesses - the mechanics, the feed merchants the tractor salesmen.

"If farmers have to sell up then it will hurt the entire rural community."

Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that farms valued at over £1m would face inheritance tax.

Since then, the government has repeatedly said that due to other allowances the threshold will in practice be closer to £3m for many, meaning the change would only target the wealthiest landowners, while protecting smaller farms.

But this has done little to allay fears within the farming community, while there is still confusion over how many might be affected.

The Treasury's figures put it at about 500 estates a year, though farming unions point to data from the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) suggesting closer to two thirds of farms might be liable.

Sion Roberts, a chartered tax adviser based in north-west Wales said he believed anywhere between 50 and 100 of the farmers on his own firm's books would be affected.

He said there was a "huge lack of understanding and sympathy" about the complexity of what had been announced.

While defending the plans, Wales' rural affairs secretary and deputy first minister Huw Irranca-Davies told an NFU Cymru conference that "more work" was needed to fully understand the likely impact.

The First Minister Eluned Morgan told a radio phone-in that everyone needed to "calm down until we are clear about how many farms are affected".

The row has come at a difficult time for the Labour-run Welsh government, which has been trying to re-set its relationship with the agricultural industry following February's protests.

It is set to announce a revised version of its new farm subsidy scheme next week.

The UK government said: "With public services crumbling, a £22bn fiscal hole inherited from the previous government and 40% of Agricultural Property Relief going to the 7% of wealthiest claimants, we made a difficult decision to ensure the relief is fiscally sustainable.

"Around 500 claims each year will be impacted and farm-owning couples can pass on up to £3m without paying any inheritance tax - this is a fair and balanced approach."