Berkshire farmer joins London budget protest

Newbury farmer Dan Willis said farmers were being put in an "impossible situation"

A Newbury farmer protesting in London against the introduction of a farm inheritance tax has said farmers are being put in an "impossible situation".

Dan Willis, who runs Rookery Farms near Newbury, joined other farmers in a protest in Whitehall on the day the Chancellor announced the budget.

The proposals would see a 20% tax put on all inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m from April 2026.

A government spokesperson previously told the BBC it was "backing British farms" and investing £2.7bn to help the industry.

Speaking from Whitehall, Dan Willis said: "We can't take it anymore. We're backed into a corner. We have little choice. We can't run away from this.

"So farmers' reaction is to fight and that is what we're doing here today. We are fighting for our futures, we are fighting for our children's futures, we are fighting for the rural way of life.

"We are put in such an impossible situation. It's unbelievable how the government of the day in this modern day and age could ever put such a class of people in such a difficult spot."

At one stage in the protest farmers fed mock red budget boxes into a combine harvester.

Some protesters drove tractors to Whitehall, despite a ban on vehicles in the area, which was announced on Tuesday evening by the Metropolitan Police.

Speaking ahead of the protest the Met Police said the vehicle could "cause serious disruption to the emergency services, transport infrastructure and local hospitals".

A government spokesperson previously told the BBC: "Our reforms to agricultural and business property relief will safeguard public services while keeping inheritance tax fair – with three quarters of estates paying nothing, and the rest paying half the usual rate, spread over 10 years interest‑free."