live from london, this is bbc news. thousands of farmers are expected in london to protest against changes to inheritance tax. i'm martine croxall at church housein i'm martine croxall at church house in westminster at a mass lobby organised by the national farmers�* union where the chancellor will be urged to drop the inheritance tax plans for funds. a court in hong kong sentences 45 democracy activists to jail in a controversial national security trial. —— the inheritance tax plans for farms. up to 12 centimeteres of snow has fallen across parts of the uk and more is forecast as the country has its first taste of winter. zoe ball announces she�*s stepping down from hosting the radio 2 breakfast show

next month, after six years at the helm. hello, i�*m karin giannone. thousands of farmers are protesting in westminster this morning to oppose the government�*s planned changes to inheritance tax. from april 2026, farms with a value of one—million pounds or more will be subject to an inheritance tax of 20%. let�*s go to central london with my colleague, martine croxall. reporter: thank you very much. thousands of farmers from all over the country are descending on westminster for two events. there will be potentially tens of thousands of farmers at a rally and a protest, some of them will have broad tractors into the capital city to make

their voices heard in opposition to the changes to inheritance tax included in the budget. chantra rachel reeves wants to improve the 20% inheritance tax on agriculture and business assets that have not faced inheritance tax in the past —— chancellor rachel reeves. that would be on assets worth i reeves. that would be on assets worthi million p. lots of discussion over the impact that will have on family farms, particularly here at church house where the nfu has organised a mass lobby of 1800 members. there is a lot of discussion about the impact family farms will suffer, that land will have to be sold to pay inheritance tax, making them potentially unviable in their view of people here, and also what it might do to uk food security. jenny kumah has been speaking to farmers about their many concerns. come on, sheeps. come on, sheeps! this land is part of david�*s dna. his family have farmed here in gloucestershire

for more than a century, through good and hard times. my great grandmother came here with my grandfather in 1913. now he�*s worried that everything will be lost thanks to government plans to change the inheritance tax rules forfarmers. this budget has just ripped the heart out of us, because i know my son cannot, will not be able to afford to pay the inheritance tax. david says his son could face an £800,000 inheritance tax bill. he could have to sell the farm off to pay up. the people they probably want to target will end up with my farm. that�*s the reality. so, someone with a lot of money will buy this farm. ministers say the changes will hit wealthy investors who buy up farms to avoid paying inheritance tax. they insist three quarters of estates won�*t be affected. the industry disputes those figures, and warns the policy will damage national food security as land is sold off to pay the tax.

what about the argument, though, that farmers have to play their part and help rebuild public services? it�*s just flawed on every front, and for ministers to stand up and say, this is good for farmers like me and for agriculture, they are chucking petrol onto a rather hot fire at the moment. david is among 1800 from the national farmers�* union heading to a mass lobby of mps in westminster. we're going to have to rely so heavily on imports. these students at the nearby royal agricultural university will attend a march organised to coincide with the nfu�*s event. mental health is a massive issue in the agricultural industry, and this feels like the final nail in the coffin for those farmers who are already struggling. me and my brother would have to pay an immense sum for ourfarm to carry on, and that�*s the sum that we�*ve spoken about together as a family, that we would not be able to finance and afford. in the weeks since the budget there�*s been widespread anger directed at ministers,

and there�*s even been reports of a row within government, with whitehall departments arguing amongst themselves about the best way to bring farmers back onside. it�*s not the first time this year that farmers have been out in protest, here in the uk and in europe, causing huge disruption there. the organiser of today�*s march says his aim is not to disturb, but to focus minds. how far do you think farmers will go if things don�*t change? i really dread to think, because they're at a point now where they've got nothing to lose, and they've got the infrastructure behind them to be able to cause a lot of problems. for now, though, the government is sticking to its decision. this is a government that is backing british farmers, not only with the biggest budget forfarming in our country�*s history, £5 billion over the next two years, but we�*re seeking a new veterinary deal with the european union to get british food exports flowing across the border again.

we�*re looking at a cross—government crime strategy to tackle rural crime, which is a huge problem forfarmers. this is a government that is on farmers�* side, but we have to fix the black hole in the public finances so we can provide the hospitals, the schools, the affordable housing that farmers and people in rural communities rely on as well. and that has required some difficult choices. but it�*s only right that those with the broadest shoulders should be asked to bear the heaviest load. farmers, though, are ready to dig in and work for change. they see this as a make or break moment for rural britain. jenny kumah, bbc news, gloucestershire. tax matters are confusing that the best of times, inheritance tax particularly so. what are the changes farming families are facing and what might they be able to do to plan for those

changes? joining me now is kirsty stone, a chartered financial planner at the family office. they are a wealth management company. thank you forjoining us on bbc news, tell us what the rules for agriculture, land and inheritance tax have been so far and what will change? previously farmers or families could qualify for something called agricultural property relief meaning there was no inheritance tax bill to pay if the owner of the farm died and passedit the owner of the farm died and passed it to the next generation, that is if they could to evidence and meet certain criteria that this was a farm and that is why it could qualify. there will be a tax liability on death now that previously was not the case and there is a lot of dispute about how many farms will be impacted by this. the threshold is in place and the headline is that it is £1 million that can be passed on to the next generation. in reality the government says that is 3

million, you can imagine the concern of farmers that £2 million is a big difference in terms of who might start paying inheritance tax. 50 terms of who might start paying inheritance tax.— inheritance tax. so who is ri . ht inheritance tax. so who is right about _ inheritance tax. so who is right about the _ inheritance tax. so who is right about the figures? l inheritance tax. so who is| right about the figures? it depends on the circumstances, each individual can pass on e1 each individual can pass on £1 million moving forwards, exempt from inheritance tax, every farmer can pass on that per individual, so those joint owners of a farm, for example a married couple all those in a civil partnership, can essentially pass on e1 civil partnership, can essentially pass on £1 million each to the next generation. in addition they will still have exemption from inheritance tax that we all qualify for regardless of whether we are farmers are not, so as an individual i can pass on up to £500,000 to the next generation without paying inheritance tax, and if you are married or in a civil partnership that is doubled, so if you add £1 million each for being farmers

and having agricultural land and having agricultural land and up to1 million and having agricultural land and up to 1 million again and having agricultural land and up to1 million again if you area and up to1 million again if you are a couple too, that is where they get to the three, but the reality as it is very dependent on individual circumstances so i think the lack of confidence in the £3 million figure is partly what has fuelled such an emotive response from farmers. 50 response from farmers. so potentially _ response from farmers. so potentially future generations will certainly need to plan for these changes if they want to try to offset them. but it is a matter of doing things in a timely manner? i matter of doing things in a timely manner?— matter of doing things in a timely manner? i think that it's partly — timely manner? i think that it's partly the _ timely manner? i think that it's partly the concern, - timely manner? i think that it's partly the concern, if. timely manner? i think that l it's partly the concern, if you it�*s partly the concern, if you are talking about big, sweeping changes in legislation and tax in particular, it is not simple for a business, a farm or a family to change what that plan has always been, and has a financial planner myjob is to make informed decisions on a sensible way without rushing into making these big decisions, bringing it into force so quickly is also a

concern because it gives little time for qualified individuals to give appropriate advice to families if the government is not going to increase that limit on helping people in any way. some commentators have said this is a government trying to make sure that it inheritance tax is to be paid, it needs to be paid fairly by all of us and this is a method of closing a loophole where because very wealthy people have recognised that was no inheritance tax to pay on land, that is why they have put their money? i think that it's a _ have put their money? i think that it's a valid _ have put their money? i think that it's a valid argument, - have put their money? i think that it's a valid argument, i l that it�*s a valid argument, i think the concern from farmers, if you look at the different statistics, that threshold of “p statistics, that threshold of up to £3 million if you have a reasonable amount of working lunch is quite low and part of the reason for that is that investors have been buying land for this exact purpose, to pass on money without paying inheritance tax, and so what will happen potentially is working farms and those that

are fourth or fifth generation farmers will not have cash to pay this liability, but those big investors who perhaps have been taking advantage of the rules are perhaps more likely to pay this bill and i think it is important to recognise the rate of inheritance tax they will pay is 50% at the rate of tax we pay as individuals, as an individual you pay 40% inheritance tax on anything subject to that tax, whereas moving forward farmers would be paying 20%. i moving forward farmers would be paying 20%-— paying 20%. i suppose if people not in the farming _ paying 20%. i suppose if people not in the farming community . not in the farming community invest in land, that will have an impact on the values of that land? w , an impact on the values of that land? .. , ., an impact on the values of that land? . . , ., , ., land? exactly, we have seen an inflated valuation _ land? exactly, we have seen an inflated valuation of _ land? exactly, we have seen an inflated valuation of the - land? exactly, we have seen an inflated valuation of the land i inflated valuation of the land farmers are working on, there farms are so much more valuable than 20 years ago as a result of the relief available previously, so when it comes to paying tax liability and farmers already on show have been saying we might have to sell land to cover this bill,

they might be selling it at a lower value than today because people might not buy it moving forward because its true value will be for farming rather than tax mitigation, which is what the government is trying to stop. the government is trying to sto -. , , the government is trying to sto . _ , , ,, ., the government is trying to sto. _ ,, ., ., stop. kirsty stone from the family offers _ stop. kirsty stone from the family offers wealth - stop. kirsty stone from the - family offers wealth management company, thank you for being with us on bbc news. you can hear that this side room is filling up, at church house this and must lobby is taking part. delegates have been invited to try to meet mps to discuss concerns over the inclusion of changes to inheritance tax in the budget. as kirsty stone alluded to a moment ago, different parties in this argument have different views on how great the impact will be. what is the truth about the figures behind these changes? let�*s take a look at some

of the figures in question with bbc verify�*s ben chu. how many farms will be affected by the changes to inheritance tax in the budget? well, farming groups are claiming around 70,000 in total, but the treasury estimates fewer than 500 a year. but there have been reports that the environment department, defra, thinks the number might be higher than the treasury�*s figure and has been pushing for more mitigations to protect farmers. so what�*s the reality on these numbers and where do they come from? well, defra�*s farm business survey suggests between 30—35% of farms in the uk could be valued at over £1 million. there are about 209,000 farm holdings in the uk in total, so that implies around 70,000. but all of these would not be necessarily liable for inheritance tax. let�*s look at the official treasury figures for agricultural property tax relief in the 2021—22 tax year. so this gives us a sense of the value of farmland passed

between generations in that year. and there were 1,730 claims in total, and only 27% were for properties valued at above £1 million. so that suggests a maximum of around 500 farms which would have been affected by the tax change, which is the origin of the treasury�*s figures. so these are the raw numbers, but there�*s some very important context for them. first, under the changes in the budget, people passing farms on to their descendants would still be facing a lower rate of inheritance tax than people passing on similar assets, 20% versus a0%. and this lower rate would be charged on the value above £1 million, not the total value. in addition, there are various inheritance reliefs, such as those available to married couples, which tax experts estimate could bring the effective tax—free amount for many farmers to more than £2.5 million, not £1 million. second, some economists argue the value of the inheritance tax

exemption for farms, since it was introduced in 1984 under margaret thatcher�*s government, has pushed up the average value of farmland because some wealthy people have used it specifically to avoid inheritance tax, a trend that isn�*t necessarily financially beneficial to ordinary working farmers. it�*s sparked a lot of opposition in rural communities, but it�*s that loophole the treasury was trying to close in the budget. our correspondents from bbc verify ben chu. labour won some predominantly rural seats at the general election for the first time but the nfu president, tom bradshaw, who has been with me earlier today, said the farming community now feels betrayed by the labour government. the conservatives for their part, now on the

opposition benches, say these changes to agriculture inheritance tax rules are a cruel policy, the liberal democrats have said it could be disastrous for family farms. government ministers say there is a large black hole in public finances and the farming communities need to do something to pay into that black hole just as everybody else does. jenny kumah had spoken to the secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs, steve reed. before the election you said labour had no intention of removing exemption forfarmers, removing exemption for farmers, in removing exemption forfarmers, in power you have now done that. why the change? after we won the election _ that. why the change? after we won the election we _ that. why the change? after we won the election we discover i won the election we discover the conservatives have left a £22 billion black hole in the co