Farmers are being urged to march on Whitehall as part of the Pancake Day Rally
Farmers fighting the family farm tax will bring the next phase of their battle back to London next week with the Pancake Day Rally which will take place in Whitehall on Shrove Tuesday (March 4).
Organised by the team behind the November Parliament rally – Olly Harrison, Andrew Ward, Martin Williams and Clive Bailye – the event has been planned to persuade Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves to consider granting a reprieve for the ‘oldest farmers, who have no time to put their affairs in order without successors having to pay a crippling sum'.
Mr Harrison said: "We want to keep the pressure on and let her know we are not going away."
Machinery display
Machinery will be on display - such as tractors and combines harvesters - with farmers on hand to explain to MPs and members of the public just what goes in to sourcing the ingredients for the traditional Pancake Day celebration, as well as the investment required to purchase such vital pieces of equipment.
Programme
- 11.30am: Farmers are asked to meet in Whitehall, near Downing Street. Although items of machinery will be present, farmers are asked to come on foot
- 12.00pm: The march begins leaving Whitehall in the direction of Trafalgar Square, before heading back down the Embankment
- 1.30pm onwards: There will then be an opportunity for MPs to come out and meet farming families as pancakes are served in Parliament Square
- 3.00pm (approx): Finish
Get involved
Even if you are not able to attend, organisers are urging farmers to write or contact their local MP and invite them into Parliament Square to find out more about farming and just why the proposed tax changes will be so devastating to the industry.
PLEDGE YOUR SUPPORT: Join Farmers Guardian's Save Britain's Family Farms campaign
Organisers say they are not seeking a total U-turn on the policy change and accept the difficult fiscal situation the Government is in. However, they claim an amendment for older farmers, would allow asset transfer without the requirements for the seven-year rule which has so unfairly trapped many, as the budget announcement was made without any consultation or warning.
Co-organiser Martin Williams said: "Since last November farmers have been warning the Chancellor and the Prime Minister that there will be an acute short-term impact on some of the most vulnerable people in our sector.
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"People who know they are running out of time have absorbed the Government's message that if they die before April next year their successors will pay no tax.
"If they die after that date, they may have a bill so large it will lead to the break-up of the business they spent their life building. That is creating a dangerous incentive for people to do the unthinkable and it needs to be rectified even if the overall policy stands in the long term," Mr Williams adds.
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