The protest was prompted by Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s first budget, which imposed a 20% tax on inherited agricultural assets worth over £1 million. The Treasury says the move will generate £520 million annually, but furious farmers claim it could end thousands of family-run farms and worse, jeopardize our food security.

Labour insists the tax only targets the wealthiest. Rural Britain isn’t buying it, with the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) leading the charge. They argue the policy is a big blow to multi generational farms, potentially forcing families to sell off their land as a result.

The controversy deepened last night as rumours spread of a government climbdown. Reports from both the Guardian and Express have suggested Treasury officials are scrambling to exempt farmers over 80 from the tax and assess its impact on smaller farms. Such a U-turn would be Labour’s first since taking power and put a spotlight on the tightrope they’re walking with rural voters – and highlight just how hard it is for Reeves to raise the additional taxes she says she needs.

If the government continues to brush off this backlash as a misunderstanding, rural communities they won in July – many for the first time ever – could quickly desert them. Inheritance tax changes may not alone trigger a countryside rebellion, but ignoring rural voices could.

(Photo provided by the Guardian)