The Hypocrisy Behind the Farmer's Revolt

Photo Courtesy: Wikimedia Commons

A revolutionary vanguard marched on Westminster with widespread media coverage, decrying the shameful treatment of the most abused and oppressed in our society. Ah, this must be the news that over ⅓ of children now live in poverty in the UK, no? 

Alright then, surely outrage over the fact Earth has now breached the 1.5C global warming limit. Wrong again? 

It’s that landowners will now have to pay a reduced form of inheritance tax on farms worth over £3 million? Give me strength. 

The protest, which drew thousands of farmers to London in November, has labelled the new policy a ‘genocide’ on farms - at least they haven’t overreacted. If we break down the policy, the new rules mean that while farms worth less than £1 million will still pay no inheritance tax, any land above this value will be taxed at a reduced rate of 20%. This is half of the standard rate of 40%, and can be paid in installments over ten years, interest free. For family owned farms, the ceiling is actually £3 million. But most importantly, it is a policy designed to target tax avoiders, who aren't even primarily farmers, but just label their land as such to avoid inheritance tax.

According to government forecasts, only around 500 farms will be affected by the raid. So why all the furor? Well it just so happens that the loudest voices in this campaign are exactly those who will now have to cough up. Their figurehead, Jeremy Clarkson, who openly admitted to buying his now famous Diddly Squat farm in 2008 to avoid inheritance tax, is outraged at Starmer and his government. I wonder why that might be? Other outspoken critics include James Dyson and Nigel Farage, who both absolutely coincidentally own (*checks notes*) millions of pounds worth of land.

Now I must confess that I am not a farmer and I did not grow up in the countryside. I understand that agricultural communities are facing rising costs, labor shortages and land loss. The farming industry, essential to our nation’s food security, of course cannot be allowed to die. The very fact that it is on life support is, however, no fault of Labour’s. According to Prof. Paul Cheshire, agricultural land prices have skyrocketed precisely because of the tax breaks on farmland Margaret Thatcher introduced, after which the rich started buying up land to hide their wealth. The last Conservative government spent years reducing subsidies and making trade deals detrimental to UK farms, so much so that, last March, farmers drove their tractors down to Westminster in protest against the Tories. 

The crisis currently facing British farming is due in no small part to Brexit, supported by not only a majority of farmers, but also, oddly enough, those very same celebrity voices who are now ‘standing up for farmers rights’. British farms used to receive massive subsidies under the EU, as well as a steady supply of laborers, but after our withdrawal now face increased supply chain costs and more competition from cheap imports. Farage, Clarkson, Dyson, and swathes of Conservative MPs who hastily bought a barber jacket and wellies to join in the protest were the same people who spent years preaching to the British public about Brexit’s “amazing opportunities” - for example Farage’s claim that Brexit would lower food prices - that have since been largely disproven. Now, they are using the very crisis they created as a platform for their own political agenda. 

But what about the good old fashioned right to protest? Again, we don't have to look far to find the hypocrisy of the British right. When Just Stop Oil protesters were given 5 year sentences for planning to block roads, it was heralded as a win for law and order against hippie nuisances. But when 10,000 people crowd the streets of Whitehall, they’re heroically standing up for their futures. 

The widespread media coverage of this ‘revolt’ is further evidence that the richest and most powerful voices in our society are given the most credence. It is no surprise that when the new Labour government finally started actively cracking down on tax avoidance, those who benefit most from it throw an extremely public tantrum. A quick glance at the recent Telegraph headline “My 12th-century castle is at risk under Labour’s tax raid” might be mistaken for satire, but is sadly an example of what heartbreaking plights matter most to the British establishment. But this is not the first hissy fit thrown by the rich and the right-wingers - one need only look at the amount of sympathetic coverage for VAT on private schools, whilst state schools are literally falling apart.

And yet, despite having had more negative press than a serial killer, as well as a 2 million strong petition for Keir Starmer to resign and call a general election, endorsed by Kemi Badenoch, Nigel Farage, and Elon Musk, the Prime Minister remains unfazed. He has pledged £5 billion in support for farmers, and has even met with the head of the National Farmers Union. This government is actually trying to find solutions to problems, and recognises that to begin rebuilding the country money needs to be found. Stand firm, Starmer, and don’t let the landowning tax avoiders cosplaying in tweed hold us ransom any longer.