The Podcast of the Lotus Eaters


Farmers Rally Against Tax Changes


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Harmful content

Misogyny

2

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Toxicity

1

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3

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Summary

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In this episode, I speak to farmers from across the country who have come together to protest against the Labour government's new inheritance tax and the new fertiliser tax. They talk about their fears for the future of the UK's farming industry and how the government is trying to take control of the food we eat.

Transcript

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00:00:00.000 So, yeah, so how do you think people see farmers there?
00:00:02.840 I think a lot of people perceive us as rich.
00:00:06.720 We are very asset rich, we're very cash poor.
00:00:09.620 And if we have a bad year, you know, most farms struggle to see a profit.
00:00:13.940 So, you know, we may look like we have an amazing lifestyle
00:00:17.400 and we do have an amazing lifestyle, but we're not rich.
00:00:21.760 Nowhere near.
00:00:22.540 So how is this going to affect you and your family?
00:00:25.940 Well, my family wouldn't afford to pay the inheritance tax
00:00:29.440 that we would have to pay on our farm.
00:00:31.100 So my dad can't afford to die now, essentially.
00:00:34.180 Britain in 2024, aye?
00:00:35.420 Yeah. No, seriously.
00:00:37.440 Thanks so much.
00:00:38.380 You're welcome.
00:00:39.100 So can I ask where you guys have come from today, please?
00:00:41.900 Lancashire.
00:00:42.560 Preston.
00:00:43.800 Lancaster.
00:00:44.660 Lancaster.
00:00:45.240 Lancaster as well.
00:00:46.260 And why have you come down today?
00:00:49.280 Well, primarily to protest against the inheritance tax,
00:00:53.120 but also about, well, other things in the budget,
00:00:57.560 like the tax on pick-ups.
00:00:59.640 And I don't know quite how big a tax it's going to be,
00:01:03.480 but they're going to put a tax on fertiliser as well.
00:01:05.940 And it's like the margins aren't that big as they are.
00:01:08.960 And it's just making it even more hard than it needs to be.
00:01:13.200 What's the general atmosphere in the farming community like
00:01:16.540 since the Labour Party's budget?
00:01:18.460 Everyone's just come together, really.
00:01:19.920 They just want to really fight against this inheritance tax mainly
00:01:24.400 and really supporting each other.
00:01:27.740 That's what it's about.
00:01:28.580 Why do you think Keir Starmer's doing this?
00:01:30.940 If you control the food, then you control the people.
00:01:33.480 That's like the way the world's going.
00:01:35.200 The higher powers that be can control the food
00:01:37.340 and what we're taking in, they can control us.
00:01:40.380 And finally, do you think Keir Starmer's going to back down on this?
00:01:43.260 Well, we're not going to stop until he does,
00:01:44.900 so he better do.
00:01:47.580 The government was killed, they said no one.
00:01:50.880 Why do we risk the family going to every day?
00:01:56.180 The Russian army was going to be a man. 0.98
00:02:00.980 We have to go to this man,
00:02:02.440 so you don't have to go to a hotel.
00:02:06.060 I'll tell you why.
00:02:08.540 We call for our children.
00:02:12.160 We call for the invitation.
00:02:13.860 Why do you think the Labour government is doing this?
00:02:25.660 I don't think they care, really, do they?
00:02:27.140 They don't seem to...
00:02:28.140 Well, I think that everybody thinks it's a bigger picture,
00:02:30.860 don't they, that they want to buy up the little farms
00:02:33.500 for the big people.
00:02:35.320 I don't know why is he doing it. 0.84
00:02:37.880 It's absolutely ludicrous, isn't it?
00:02:39.880 So how's the inheritance tax going to affect you directly,
00:02:42.860 do you think?
00:02:43.620 Well, it will affect us quite a lot if Paul dies.
00:02:47.320 If I die, then it will affect us.
00:02:50.580 No way.
00:02:51.720 It's a teeny farm.
00:02:53.980 It's still going to be within the limit,
00:02:57.620 and so then I will have to find an awful lot of money.
00:03:01.980 Or sell.
00:03:02.800 Or sell.
00:03:03.740 One of the things that I think a lot of people
00:03:05.860 misunderstand about farming
00:03:07.000 is that farming isn't a cash-rich endeavour,
00:03:11.920 it's a property-rich endeavour.
00:03:14.040 Would you be able to briefly explain to people
00:03:16.560 why exactly the tax is a real problem for the farmers?
00:03:19.960 Our farm doesn't pay for itself at all,
00:03:23.480 so Paul has had to diversify.
00:03:25.760 I have to work somewhere else as well,
00:03:27.540 just to make ends meet.
00:03:29.380 Or, you know, we just couldn't survive.
00:03:31.000 And this farm is three-generational,
00:03:35.380 and it used to keep two whole families at one time,
00:03:39.660 and now it doesn't even keep me and Paul.
00:03:42.400 Why are farms in Britain in such a precarious position then?
00:03:48.100 Well, it's just years and years of bad management
00:03:50.240 for government, isn't it?
00:03:52.180 I mean, we're not getting paid enough
00:03:54.980 for the food that is produced,
00:03:57.160 i.e. the fertiliser tax that he's going to put on now.
00:04:01.140 We put fertiliser on to grow good food, crops,
00:04:05.040 and then they get the tax of the food that we sell,
00:04:09.500 and yet we're paying tax on the fertiliser as well.
00:04:13.100 Can I ask why you've come down today, please?
00:04:15.120 We're concerned about the future of farming,
00:04:16.980 the future of sustainable food
00:04:19.140 and food security for the UK as a nation, really.
00:04:23.320 We can see what this really is.
00:04:25.060 It's a land grab.
00:04:26.660 It's...
00:04:27.460 They want to get a...
00:04:29.100 In my opinion,
00:04:30.800 Starmer doesn't like the fact that we produce food
00:04:33.740 and he wants control of it.
00:04:35.880 Control the food, control the people.
00:04:38.040 Do you think it's a bit suspicious
00:04:39.200 that Rachel Reeves put up a picture
00:04:40.820 of the Communist Party of Great Britain founder
00:04:42.880 in her office?
00:04:44.140 It says it all, doesn't it?
00:04:45.020 I think it does, doesn't it?
00:04:46.740 Because there's such small margins in farming.
00:04:48.680 What they've done now,
00:04:50.100 it's going to wipe out masses. 0.93
00:04:52.280 So I take it that if your family was hit
00:04:54.460 with an inheritance tax bill,
00:04:55.980 it'd be very difficult to pay?
00:04:57.620 It would.
00:04:58.260 Yeah, definitely.
00:04:59.340 Yeah, I know.
00:05:00.080 It's bigger than just the inheritance tax as well.
00:05:02.480 I mean, the last speaker from the NFU explained
00:05:05.540 this is the straw that's broken the camel's back.
00:05:08.540 Farmers work for less than a minimum wage. 0.96
00:05:10.980 There's no money left to invest.
00:05:12.580 There's no money to continue to improve anything.
00:05:15.780 There's no...
00:05:16.400 Yeah, there's no innovation.
00:05:17.500 There's no money left.
00:05:18.880 It's an industry whose prices are dictated by the end customer.
00:05:23.940 And again, that's unheard of.
00:05:26.000 So we finally made it to the back of the farmers' protest.
00:05:28.600 It's pretty big.
00:05:29.460 Probably about 20,000 or 30,000 people,
00:05:31.180 quite similar to the Freedom Rallies that we've been doing.
00:05:33.680 And everyone seems really nice.
00:05:35.440 The weather, as you can see, is atrocious.
00:05:37.360 It was snowing earlier.
00:05:38.620 Thankfully, it's just degenerated into a light rain,
00:05:40.700 so not too bad.
00:05:42.160 But everyone seems to be in fairly high spirits.
00:05:45.360 And weather aside, everyone's having a good time, I think.
00:05:49.120 How do you feel the atmosphere at the protest was today?
00:05:51.740 I think it's pretty heavyweight, pretty wonderfully well behaved.
00:05:55.700 There's a sense of purpose and...
00:05:57.860 Very well supported.
00:05:59.000 Very well supported.
00:06:00.280 We're organised, yeah.
00:06:01.180 And why did you, chaps, come down yourselves? 1.00
00:06:05.080 I'm 84.
00:06:06.720 I've got two boys in the business.
00:06:08.380 We've paid the mortgage off in 35 years.
00:06:10.980 And they're asking us to find a million pounds
00:06:13.200 for them to start all over again.
00:06:15.140 And it's not on.
00:06:16.640 My purpose as a retired veterinary surgeon who supports farmers
00:06:20.660 is that I'm particularly anxious about the impact
00:06:23.400 of this inheritance tax changes, potentially,
00:06:27.200 on the mental health and well-being of farmers,
00:06:29.460 as well as the infrastructure of the whole agricultural industry
00:06:34.520 and the rural economy.
00:06:36.100 Yeah, I mean, the sad truth is that farmers
00:06:38.360 just can't afford to pay this tax.
00:06:40.680 Although, on paper, we look as if we're all multimillionaires.
00:06:44.200 Farming works on very slim margins.
00:06:46.440 Most farmers work on between half and 1% of their capital employed.
00:06:50.480 And the money, the cash, just isn't in the bank to pay this tax.
00:06:53.520 It will mean family farms being broken up to pay it. 0.93
00:06:56.140 What's the feeling in the farmer community after the budget?
00:07:00.660 How are things?
00:07:01.900 Just totally devastated, basically.
00:07:04.740 Particularly when the government had indicated before the election,
00:07:07.400 the Labour Party had indicated,
00:07:08.920 there was going to be no change to APR.
00:07:10.840 So we feel betrayed.
00:07:12.320 That would be the best word of the summer, betrayed.
00:07:14.300 Why do you think Keir Starmer is doing this?
00:07:16.200 God only knows.
00:07:17.720 There's no doubt the Labour Party just do not understand
00:07:20.300 the rural fabric of this country and how our food is produced.
00:07:23.740 It's going to have a massive impact.
00:07:25.260 With land being currently taken out of production
00:07:27.020 through the SFI scheme,
00:07:30.100 the insecurity in world food supplies,
00:07:33.360 particularly with the war in Ukraine,
00:07:34.920 and you can see food shortages arriving in a few years' time.
00:07:38.540 Do you think it's likely that he'll back down?
00:07:40.340 I hope he comes out and if he's a real statesman,
00:07:43.020 he'll come out and say,
00:07:44.000 I think we've made a mistake.
00:07:46.080 Maybe we should reconsider this.
00:07:48.000 A lot of the figures that the Labour Party have worked with
00:07:51.000 are totally misleading as well.
00:07:52.800 They said there was only 500 farms
00:07:54.340 that would be paying this tax in the years to come.
00:07:57.680 But that didn't include business relief,
00:08:00.400 business rate relief as well.
00:08:02.760 And if you take into account that,
00:08:05.040 which covers your stock,
00:08:07.920 your crops that are growing,
00:08:09.020 your buildings,
00:08:10.240 a hell of a lot more farmers
00:08:11.400 are going to be pulled into this.
00:08:13.280 It could be as many as 60%, 70% of family farms
00:08:15.580 having to find huge sums of money.
00:08:22.560 You're a first-generation farmer.
00:08:26.920 Why have you come down here?
00:08:28.280 So today I've come down here
00:08:30.220 to support everyone else.
00:08:33.060 So our farm was under threat a few years ago
00:08:37.300 and unfortunately we had to give up farming.
00:08:39.960 But now I was in a position to start up again.
00:08:43.920 So I've started up the family business again
00:08:45.520 and I've come down here.
00:08:46.640 But the land is in...
00:08:48.560 Well, my old man, dad, owns the farm.
00:08:51.460 So when he sadly passes on
00:08:53.340 and the farm will come to me,
00:08:54.720 it's going to hit me like a ton of bricks.
00:08:56.560 Absolutely hit me like a ton of bricks.
00:08:57.880 Do you think you'll be able to afford it?
00:08:59.480 No.
00:08:59.860 Just go across that bridge when we come to it.
00:09:01.640 Hopefully today we'll sort something out, but...
00:09:03.820 Why do you think the Labour Party are doing this?
00:09:05.880 To line their own pockets, I think.
00:09:07.320 That is my honest answer,
00:09:08.720 to line their own pockets.
00:09:09.600 I'm going to pinch some of my speech
00:09:12.540 from some greater statesmen than I.
00:09:16.200 Winston Churchill once said
00:09:18.000 that you can't tax your way to prosperity.
00:09:21.600 This government, unfortunately,
00:09:24.480 despite wanting to hit the ground running,
00:09:26.660 I think it tripped at the election
00:09:28.420 and at the budget it fell and hit its head on the pavement.
00:09:32.160 I can't believe how you've turned up.
00:09:34.980 Thank you so, so much.
00:09:36.980 Thank you so much.