BRADLEY Thomas MP highlighted the plight of farmers across Bromsgrove in a major rally against the government’s 'family farm tax' plans.

Mr Thomas stood shoulder-to-shoulder with farmers who gathered in Westminster on Tuesday (November 19) in opposition to the government’s plans.

Mr Thomas said: “The government’s ideological decision to target farmers – despite promising not to do so – has the potential to wreck farmer’s lives and the whole industry.

 “Not only have they underestimated and undervalued the farms affected by this harsh and devastating new tax, but the knock-on effects for the whole country could be disastrous.

 “It is why I will stand beside our farmers from here in Bromsgrove and the Villages and those from across the country to show the government they have made not only a bad decision, but the wrong decision.

 “I will remain committed to helping local farmers fight this harsh new tax and gathering together will show Keir Starmer how poor his judgement is.”

Ahead of the protest, Mr Thomas met with local farmers last week on a farm in his constituency to discuss the impact these new laws will have on their family farms.

One young farmer said: “As a small, tenanted farmer in the area, we don’t actually own a lot of property. So, if my grandfather, who owns the business, passed away, we’d be left with a £400,000 tax bill. We don’t have £400,000 in the bank, so that just means we would have to sell the business.”

The rally, which was attended by an estimated 13,000 people, according to police, was held alongside a mass lobby of MPs by members of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).

TV presenter and journalist-turned-farmer Jeremy Clarkson accused the government of dealing a “hammer blow” to farmers during the protest.

Farmers have reacted with anger and dismay to the inheritance tax changes for farming businesses, which limit the existing 100% relief for farms to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property.

But ministers have said farmers are “wrong” to think that thousands of farm businesses will be affected by the changes, insisting only around 500 of the wealthiest estates will have to pay tax under the move.

The government has also said they had put a record £5 billion aside over two years for sustainable farming, but farmers warn of of the impact of speeding up the phase-out of EU-era subsidies as funding is switched to nature-friendly land management schemes, and other measures in the Budget.

Environment Secretary Steve Reed said that only a few hundred farms would be impacted, rather than the tens of thousands claimed by critics of the inheritance tax change.

“If farmers look at the facts they will see the vast majority of them will pay nothing more under the new scheme than they did under the old scheme,” he said.

In an appearance before MPs in the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on Tuesday, Mr Reed said, based on projections from the Treasury, many farmers who thought they were going to be affected “probably happily, are wrong”.

“The numbers I’ve heard bandied around are enormous and very, very frightening if people were to believe them,” he said.