NFU leads protests over inheritance tax reforms

The government's inheritance tax reforms will "decimate" the country's agricultural sector, a farming union said as it staged a series of protests across the UK.

Speaking to a crowd in Cambridge on Saturday, the president of the National Farmers' Union (NFU), Tom Bradshaw thanked farmers and the public for engaging with the national day of action, as protests took place across the East.

A petition signed by more than 270,000 people was handed into Downing Street by Mr Bradshaw and NFU Cymru president Aled Jones, urging the government to ditch the "devastating family farm tax".

A government spokesperson said: "Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast."

Speaking after the event on Parker's Piece in Cambridge, Mr Bradshaw said: "We've got to keep the pressure on government to make them recognise that the policies contained within the Budget, the proposals around inheritance tax and agricultural property release are absolutely wrong.

"They must change them to remove those elderly farmers from the eye of the storm."

A government spokesperson said: "This government will invest £5bn into farming over the next two years, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country's history.

"Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean estates will pay a reduced effective inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than standard 40%, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free.

"This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates a year."