Cheshire farmer to join thousands of colleagues in mass Westminster rally
Farmers are marching to protest new inheritance tax measures
A farmer from Cheshire says the introduction of inheritance tax on farmers came "out of the blue" ahead of a mass rally in Westminster today.
Tens of thousands of farmers are expected to gather opposite Downing Street to protest the government's plans to charge many farms inheritance tax who were previously exempt.
In the Autumn budget, a cap on exemptions from inheritance tax for farms was announced, ending over three decades of complete exemption.
Richard Yarwood, a dairy farmer from Congleton, said: "It's going to be people approaching the end of their lives that it affects.
"What a worry, what a terrible thing to bring in, out of the blue, when they denied they were going to do it."
Richard was formerly the Cheshire County Chairman for the National Farmers Union (NFU), who have also publicly opposed the measures.
NFU President, Tom Bradshaw, said: "This Budget not only threatens family farms but will also make producing food more expensive.
"This means more cost for farmers who simply cannot absorb it, and it will have to be borne by someone.
"Farmers are down to the bone and gristle, who is going to carry these costs?"
The rally was organised by a small group of farmers, one of which is Clive Bailye, who founded the Farming Forum, a community website for the farming community.
He said of the rally: "I don't think anyone's asking for a complete U-turn. That's that's a lot to ask of any politician.
"But what we want them to do is is sit down, give us an afternoon and let's get some people who really understand the numbers and the farm business.
"We really do need to consider an element of food security in this country; we saw what happened with gas and electricity prices."
The protest is due to have some star power behind it, with TV personality Jeremy Clarkson expected to speak.
Mr Bailye said: "Jeremy has been absolutely hugely supportive and and in touch of us for for our amateur efforts to get this thing sorted.
"He will definitely be there tomorrow, that's for sure."
Environment Secretary Steve Reed said only about 500 out of the UK's 209,000 farms will be affected, according to Treasury calculations.