Shropshire's furious farmers en route to Westminster to join protest over Inheritance Tax reforms

Dozens of furious farmers in Shropshire were up and out even earlier than usual this morning - boarding trains and coaches on their way to London to join thousands of others protesting against the Government's plans to reform Inheritance Tax.

Kier Starmer's Labour government has been engulfed in criticism following the announcement that, starting April 2026, agricultural assets valued over £1 million will no longer be exempt from the tax.

Under plans unveiled in the autumn Budget on October 30, Inheritance Tax would be levied at 20 per cent on agricultural assets above £1 million, which includes livestock, farmhouses, sheds, and machinery - although Chancellor Rachel Reeves has said that in some cases the threshold could in practice be about £3 million.

According to the Government, the change will deter investors from sidestepping the tax by purchasing farmland, after Labour's analysis revealed a decline in the amount of agricultural land actively used for farming and a significant recent increase in wealthy individuals and institutions acquiring farmland across England.

But farmers who have already been hit by Covid, Brexit, the cost of living crisis and a year of poor weather warn that the change could spell the end for farms that have been in families for generations.

In response to the plans, dozens of farmers from Shropshire were heading to Westminster on Tuesday morning to join a protest that has been organised to coincide with a mass lobby being held by the National Farmers' Union (NFU), who will meet MPs to make the case for reversing the tax decisions.

We met one coach in the snow as it pulled into Telford Services off the M54 at around 5.30am, to pick up a handful of awaiting farmers.

Among those were father and son Neil and Adam Baylis from Haughton House Farm. Neil is the fourth generation farmer in his family, with Adam keen to become the fifth.