'The future is nerve-wracking,' says young farmer

A young farmer said she was protesting over changes to inheritance tax because it had made the future seem "scary and nerve-wracking".

Father-and-daughter duo James and Grace Parrish, from Brentwood in Essex, will be among the farmers taking part in a protest outside Parliament on Tuesday.

"It's definitely going to impact me," Miss Parrish, 23, said, nearly three weeks after the plan to charge some farms inheritance tax was first announced in the Budget.

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer previously said the "vast majority" of farmers would not be affected, while Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the changes were necessary to improve public services.

From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will be liable to the tax at 20%, half the usual rate.

BBC Verify estimated about 500 farms would be impacted each year.

Miss Parrish continued: "It was quite scary and nerve-wracking hearing it all come out. I've planned my life towards farming, I've studied it and worked on it for my entire life. Suddenly, everything is changing.

"I'm very nervous that when my grandpa and my dad do pass away, suddenly I'll have a whole load of additional stress of not only dealing with them passing away but also trying to find money to pay it all."

Mr Parrish, 52, added he felt the government's approach was "disjointed".

Jenny Hollington, 67, said she was most worried about farmers in rural areas who could not diversify to make a profit.

"The people who live further out and rely on livestock… they've got no chance at all. Even in Suffolk and Norfolk, there's not the diversification, and that's not a million miles away and it's going to hit them really, really hard."

She said she was also concerned about changes to the National Minimum Wage and employers' National Insurance contributions which could stop her employing young people to work at a paintballing business at her farm in Abridge.

"We do pride ourselves on the fact we've employed so many people and helped so many youngsters," she continued.

"Some of them have had problems and by having some direction and working with us it's put them in very good stead and turned them into very good people."

Farming minister Daniel Zeichner told the BBC that couples and farms with property should be able to claim further reductions in their bill, and if land is passed on more than seven years before a person dies there will be nothing to pay.

He blamed the last government's handling of the economy for the move but said the farming and food production budget had been increased in the Budget, which he said was a positive message for the sector.

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