By Mal Butler
Farmers from across the Island attended a mass rally, and met with the Island’s two MP’s, following a demonstration against the Government’s proposed inheritance tax rises on Tuesday.
Huge crowds, with some estimations as many as 50,000, protested in Whitehall and Parliament Square, with coach loads of farmers travelling to the capital, including writer and broadcaster, Jeremy Clarkson, of Diddly Squat Farm, who addressed the masses.
The so-called ‘tractor-tax’ comes into effect in April 2026 and the farmers were protesting against the government’s decision to charge inheritance tax at the rate of 20 per cent on farmland worth over £1m.
Among them was Luke Flux, 29, who is the fourth generation of his family farming at Skinner’s Farm, Northwood, with his father, Dave.
Luke and his partner, Abbie, have two small children, Dougie, two, and Jesse, eight weeks. Luke said: “When dad dies, it will be passed down to me and my brother, Dan, who does not farm. If my children are interested in running the farm, then it will be passed on to them in the future.
“We don’t know if the farm will even be viable by then; the only option would be to sell off parts of it, which would make the business unviable.
“This isn’t just about me; I feel like the general public don’t support us because they think all farmers are wealthy. But we don’t want to lose the value of our assets, otherwise we could have sold up already. We’ve been farming here for around 100 years.”
Luke attended the rally with fellow Island farmers, Tom Marsh, Dan Cheek and John Hayward, and added: “Originally, everyone was going to meet up in Trafalgar Square, but there were too many and we were moved on to Whitehall where people were backed up to the Houses of Parliament.
“Labour says we should diversify, but we have done that. We farm beef, have arable land and holiday lets and sell hay and straw. I even have a second job as an agricultural contractor. This is the only way we can have a farm; we have squeezed everything out of it.
“Farms are more than food producers, we look after the land and provide habitat to feed the wildlife. We maintain hedgerows and ditches, as well as the environment, with no support from the government. We are on the edge; it’s desperate.”
Robyn Munt, chairman of the IW National Farmers Union, met with MPs, Richard Quigley, West Wight, and Joe Robertson, East Wight, on the same day, along with other Island farmers.
Robyn said: “We had a total of 1,800 members from across the UK meeting their various MPs. This inheritance tax adds massive difficulties to our problems.
“Farmers have already been hit with huge increases in their costs in every direction, like grain and fuel. We can’t just put up prices, because agriculture is driven by global markets, and we are also facing massive cuts in our subsidies next year.
“We are living in a knife-edge situation.”
Isle of Wight Observer