Starmer ‘fled like a flipping rat’ as angry farmers beseige Welsh Labour conference

[dutchman]

The prime minister was accused of escaping through a back door to avoid scores of angry farmers protesting outside the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno



Sir Keir Starmer was accused of “running out the back door like a flipping rat” to avoid scores of angry farmers outside protesting over controversial changes to death duties dubbed “the family farm tax”.

The prime minister had been giving a speech at the Welsh Labour conference in Llandudno where he stood by the measures in Rachel Reeves’s much criticised Budget with a record £40bn in tax rises. But he didn’t directly acknowledge the growing backlash to inheritance tax changes which mean two-thirds of farmers would be liable to pay 20 per cent inheritance tax on family farms – a figure disputed by the Treasury. Hundreds of farmers had gathered on the promenade in Llandudno and were dismayed the PM did not appear to leave via the front of the conference centre.

Farmer and well-known YouTuber Gareth Wyn Jones said that he “ran out of the backdoor like a flipping rat”.

He branded the prime minister “disrespectful”, adding: “With so many people that have come here to air their frustrations and problems, he had an opportunity to come out and address the crowd. He should have been man enough to come out and talk to the people. He was voted in by the people and he should listen to the people.

“He didn’t even have the guts to come and just address them. He shot out of the back door with his security and gone back to his London hideout.”

A Labour source denied that he was trying to avoid the protesters, saying that the exit was chosen because that was where Sir Keir’s official car was parked.

The prime minister is not believed to have spoken to any of the protesters outside the event after proclaiming to Welsh Labour members that he was proud of his government’s achievements so far and would not back down over measures in Ms Reeves’s controversial Budget.

Sir Keir’s speech at the Welsh Labour conference was given against a backdrop of hundreds of protesting farmers enraged by the changes in inheritance tax which mean farms over £1m in value will be liable for the first time at 20 per cent, forcing families to break up or sell off farms.

The protest was led by a line of tractors driving up the seaside resort’s promenade with supporters holding posters and shouting, “Enough is enough” with warnings that Labour’s policies will destroy the farming sector. Lines of police separated angry farmers from the conference venue.

The issue has been made worse by apparent disagreement in Whitehall over the number of farms affected. The chancellor has claimed it was only 28 per cent based on how many applied each year for agricultural property relief, but Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs figures suggest it could be as high as 66 per cent.

Added to that, a senior Labour grandee and former adviser, John McTernan, claimed that Britain does not need family farms and suggested Sir Keir should treat them like Margaret Thatcher dealt with the miners in the 1980s.

In a statement ahead of today’s protest, farmers have threatened to go on strike and cut off Britain’s domestic food supply.

A much bigger protest with thousands of farmers is set to take place in Whitehall on Tuesday. The event has attracted so much support that the police and organisers were forced to change its location because Trafalgar Square is not big enough to contain everyone involved.

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I really don't know how he stands up!

[dutchman]

Food shortage plans drawn up as farmers threaten to strike



Ministers are drawing up contingency plans to deal with food shortages if farmers go on strike over the Treasury’s inheritance tax raid on farms.

Louise Haigh, the Transport Secretary, said the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) would set out contingency plans to ensure food security over the winter and summer.

It came as an environment minister urged farmers to “look calmly” at government tax plans that will see farming assets worth more than £1 million hit with a 20 per cent levy when inherited.

Farmers plan to descend on London in their thousands on Tuesday to protest against plans that they claim will destroy or break up family farms across the country.

Some farmers are threatening to go on strike and stop food production to give ministers a taste of what it would be like if the UK food-producing sector were no longer operating.

The threat has raised concerns about empty supermarket shelves this winter and potential panic-buying, last seen at the start of the Covid pandemic when people began to stockpile food at home.

On Sky’s Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips, the presenter asked Ms Haigh about these concerns. She replied: “Of course, Defra will be setting out plans for the summer, for the winter – and setting out … contingency plans, and ensuring that food security is treated as the priority it deserves to be.”

On Saturday, Sir Keir Starmer used a speech to the Welsh Labour conference to defend Rachel Reeves’s Budget, and to insist that he would not be backing down on any of the measures she had announced, despite mounting criticism over the family farm tax and the rise in employer National Insurance contributions.

Gareth Wyn Jones, a north Wales farmer and a popular YouTuber, accused Sir Keir of “fleeing out of the back door like a flipping rat” after the Prime Minister avoided speaking to farmers or addressing their concerns in his speech.

Adrian Ramsay, the co-leader of the Green Party, said that the Government should rethink its inheritance tax changes.

He told The House magazine: “The Government’s got into a muddle over its figures, and there’s disagreement between different departments about how many farms would actually be caught up by this planned tax.”

“The Government needs to have another look at what it’s got planned and be able to make a clear distinction between people who are speculating in buying up land and actual family farms.”

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Cue panic buying...

[dutchman]

Starmer's not content with freezing us to death this winter, he plans to starve us all to death as well!

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A certain Russian dictator used similar tactics. Just sayin'.

[dutchman]

BBC Verify used Labour activist to back Government’s claims on farm inheritance tax



The BBC Verify unit used a Labour Party activist to back its analysis of government figures on the farm tax.

The broadcaster’s fact-checking service quoted Dan Neidle as an “independent tax expert” in a piece assessing how many British farms would be affected by the inheritance tax raid.

Mr Neidle, a retired City lawyer, made headlines last year when he pursued Nadhim Zahawi, the Conservative Party chairman at the time, over his tax affairs.

In a BBC Verify story on the corporation’s website, titled “How many farms will be affected by Budget tax rises?”, Mr Neidle sided with the Treasury’s low estimate.

It said: “Dan Neidle, an independent tax expert, says the number of actual farms affected is likely to be below 500 per year.”

The Country Land and Business Association (CLBA) has produced a much higher figure, which Mr Neidle dismissed on X as “hyperbolic fake stats”.

The BBC Verify piece has since been amended, with Mr Neidle’s “below 500 per year” claim removed and his title amended to “founder of the independent Tax Policy Associates”.

It continues to dismiss the CLBA’s assertion that a total of 70,000 farms will be hit by the tax change as “not necessarily the right number to use”.

An accompanying video, presented by the BBC Verify journalist Ben Chu, told viewers that “the true share of farms affected going forward is likely to be much closer to the Treasury estimates”.

The web story has also been amended because the original mistakenly confused hectares with acres.

The broadcaster said that Mr Neidle’s title had been changed in the online article “to more accurately and comprehensively describe who he is”, and that his claim about the number of affected farms being below 500 per year was removed “for brevity”.