Any Labour party politician who thinks that farmers will eventually go away quietly and accept proposed changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) from April 2026, needs to think again.

The strength of feeling at the Ulster Farmers’ Union rally at the Eikon Exhibition Centre on Monday night was palpable. People sat in traffic for hours, while others parked up vehicles and walked to the venue. The true extent of the crowd was only really evident as the event was drawing to a close.

The following day, farmers could have brought London to a standstill, but instead the main farming unions concentrated their efforts on lobbying MPs rather than anything more radical. The message coming through loud and clear is that Tuesday’s protest is only the start. The proposed £1m threshold for relief from IHT has crossed a line.

On the other side of the debate, we see Labour ministers insisting that their IHT changes are fair and won’t be reviewed.

Advised

On the face of it, it just looks like a rushed policy, with ministers being advised by people who have no understanding of farming or the countryside.

However, in the cold light of day, a lot of farmers will probably agree with the principle of trying to change a policy that has encouraged the rich to buy up land as a way of passing on wealth to the next generation.

The problem is that in what has been proposed, ordinary working farms could be severely impacted.

Rethink

On that basis, surely there is an opportunity for some sort of a rethink within government, working with farming leaders to come up with a plan around future land tenure and tax arrangements that is both workable and fair.

If that doesn’t happen quickly, views will become increasingly entrenched and farmers will be left with little option but to consider other forms of protest action. As an industry, that is definitely not where we want to be.