Farmers took to the streets of York today in a convoy of tractors to make clear the anger they feel towards the current government.
Ahead of the protest, they told YorkMix that they were fighting for their children’s future – and said they feared being forced off the land.
Farming vehicles were adorned with signs including ‘Trust a stuck farmer not Starmer’, ‘Wanted: Rachel Thieves’ and ‘Clarkson For PM’.
That’s a reference to Sir Keir Starmer and Chancellor Rachel Reeves, whose October budget introduced the changes to inheritance tax which sparked the farmers’ fury; and Jeremy Clarkson whose farming programme has made him a rural folk hero for many.
A total of 120 tractors gathered at York Livestock Centre in Murton. Dozens were driven into York in batches of 20, bringing the wrath felt in the surrounding countryside into the heart of the city.
Some of the tractors gathered by York Minster, adorned with signs saying: ‘Save Family Farms’ and ‘No Farmers No Food’.
Before setting off, farmers told YorkMix why they felt moved to take action.
Angus Gowthorpe, one of the organisers of the protest, said: “We’ve brought this together to try and demonstrate the feeling against the proposed tax changes that this government is proposing to bring in.”
From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will have to pay inheritance tax at 20%. There’s a £3m threshold for couples on a farm.
Although the tax is half the usual rate, Angus said it was already having a huge impact on farmers. “They’re meeting the accountants and solicitors and bank managers, and they’re finding out where they stand if the if the proposals go through as they are.
“There’s an awful lot of poor mental health on the back of that, because people are realising they just aren’t going to be able to carry on.
“Farmers in around York area are going to be hit just as badly as anybody else, that you will struggle to find a working farm that isn’t going to be above the £3m threshold.
“Virtually everybody’s going to end up having to sell land in order to pay for it or pack up and get out.”
Farmer Richard Bowling said: “We’re fighting for our children’s future, not so much our future. And we feel very strongly against it.”
He said they weren’t aiming to cause problems for anybody with today’s demonstration. “We’re not out to disrupt people’s lives. We’re here to fight for a cause that is very, very close to our hearts.”
Richard Atkinson agreed. “I’m really worried about the future of farming. I just can’t see there’s going to be a positive future in the next five years.”
He said if his dad and uncle died, he’d be left with a £1.7m tax bill “which we couldn’t pay. We’d have to sell land to pay, which means our farm will get smaller.
“Then if I die, my sons would have to pay a substantial amount of inheritance tax. So generation on generation, the farm just going to dwindle to nothing.”
He described the future as “bleak”. “Something else that’s worrying me is the carbon tax we’re going to put on fertiliser, which is effectively going to make growing cereals unviable at the current prices we’re getting for them,” he said.
Simon Hudson, who is a fifth generation farmer at Flaxton, said: “All I can say to the government is, look at what we’re doing today and start to listen to us. We want to talk, and we want to get our message across to you.”
The York protest coincided with a national “RIP British Farming” event in London.
Ahead of the demonstration, the Environment Department (Defra) said it had put £343 million into the rural economy last week, in payments for nature-friendly farming activities, benefiting more than 31,000 farmers.
Environment Secretary Steve Reed insisted “our commitment to farmers is steadfast”, as he said the cash was part of a £5 billion two-year farming budget which was “the largest ever directed at sustainable food production in our country’s history”.
