Furious farmers have today descended on the coastal town of Llandudno in their tractors to express their anger at the inheritance tax rises announced in the Budget.
But a defiant Sir Keir Starmer pledged he would support Labour’s Budget ‘all day long’ as the farmers gathered in a tractor convoy in the Welsh town in their hundreds to chant: ‘Enough is enough’.
Despite his defiance, Starmer was forced to escape through a back door after his speech at the Welsh Labour conference to avoid the angry crowds on the promenade.
Many of the farmers were gathered on the town’s promenade ready to scold the PM and were left dismayed when he chose the back entrance instead.
Police were forced to stand between the protesters and the venue to prevent any further escalation.
Video on social media also shows a massive convoy of them heading to the town, with many of them left feeling that farming and agriculture have been neglected by the Labour Party.
Gareth Wyn-Jones is a Welsh farmer and YouTuber and he described Starmer running ‘out of the back door like a flipping rat’.
Labour say that the PM decided to use the back entrance because this is where his car was parked.
Gareth said: ‘With so many people that have come here to air their frustrations and problems, he had an opportunity to come out and address the crowd.
‘He should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people. He was voted in by the people and he should listen to the people.
‘He didn’t even have the guts to come and just address them. He shot out of the backdoor with his security and gone back to his London hideout.’
He is also set to deliver a letter directly to Starmer which begins: ‘Don’t bite the hand that feeds you.’
Gareth added in an interview with Sky News: ‘They’re destroying an industry that’s already on its knees and struggling, absolutely struggling, mentally, emotionally and physically.’
‘We need government support, not more hindrance, so we can produce food to feed the nation.
‘Look, a lot of farmers in this country are in their 70s and 80s, they haven’t handed their farms down because that’s the way it’s always been, they’ve always known there was never going to be inheritance tax.’
The farmers are unhappy with the changes to inheritance tax and particularly Rachel Reeves’s pledge of £40 billion in tax rises.
It means that two thirds of farmers will be forced to pay 20% inheritance tax on family farms.
But this is a figure that is disputed by the Treasury.
Farms over £1 million in value will be liable for the first time to pay the 20% and farmers argue this is forcing families to break up or sell off farms.
There’s also disagreement with the Labour government itself as to how many farms are impacted by the changes to inheritance tax.
The Treasury argues that it is 28% – this figure is based upon how many farms apply for agricultural property relief each year.
The Department for Environmental and Rural Affairs (Defra) argue the figure could be as high as 66%.
This did not stop the PM’s defiance at the conference as he said: ‘Make no mistake, I will defend our decisions in the Budget all day long. I will defend facing up to the harsh light of fiscal reality.
‘I will defend the tough decisions that would necessary to stabilise our economy and I will defend protecting the pay slips of working people, fixing the foundations of our economy and investing in the future of Britain and the future of Wales, finally turning the page on austerity once and for all.’
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