to a very, very good afternoon to you. it's 3:00 pm and i'm a very, very good afternoon to you. it's 3:00pm and i'm joined in westminster by a farmy army . in westminster by a farmy army. an army of farmers at the protest today were right from the heart of westminster , of the heart of westminster, of course, and broadcasting all across the uk today . westminster across the uk today. westminster was a sea of woolly hats and wellies, as over 10,000 british farmers gathered to roar a message of defiance to our government. jeremy clarkson bellowed back down at the nfu president , bellowed back down at the nfu president, demanding a sit down with a reluctant rachel reeves . with a reluctant rachel reeves. throughout today's show, i'll be joined in the studio by key leaders. there we go. and tractors , activists and farmers tractors, activists and farmers who are standing together crying. enough is enough. no farmers, no food. and meanwhile, as farmers fume in their freezing fields, our prime minister keir starmer, is living la vida loca. he's 6000 miles away in subtropical rio at the 620 summit. but he says he gets it. as he told 6b news today

that his first job was on a farm. we'll hear from the prime minister live at 5:00 pm. too much here in the studio. and as temperatures plummet and snow falls across the land, british pensioners are bracing themselves for a long, cold winter in the wake of labour axing their winter fuel allowance. today i'll speak to the founder of the pensioner vote com, who says an army of vips very irritated pensioners could cause labour yet another headache. and with farming on its knees, pensioners feeling the freeze and council tax going through the roof, is it any wonder that 6arr has replaced the great british cuppa as the nation's favourite drink? i'll raise an ice and a slice to this simply incredible tipple later in the show . welcome to the show in the show. welcome to the show and look at the studio, this wonderful studio packed full of british farmers and their children. putting food on your

table, bacon on the table every single day. these people matter. today they wanted to be listened to and we will give them a voice on 6b news. but right in the heart of westminster, it's warm in here. we gave them a cup of tea and we're about to listen to what they've got to say. what do you make of today's performance at westminster? jeremy clarkson i thought it was on particularly good form , despite the fact he's good form, despite the fact he's had a recent heart scare . what had a recent heart scare. what do you make of the political response? is it enough? do you think they're going to listen? will they listen to these farmers? will they hear their roar? or simply to use another farming pun to try and pull the wool over their eyes? will that wash should there be a fightback? 6et wash should there be a fightback? get in touch gbnews.com/yoursay. now it's your news and his headlines. and here's sophie reaper. >> thank you martin. the time is just after 3:00 and these are the latest 6b news headlines. farming leaders have accused the chancellor of refusing to engage with them over controversial changes to inheritance tax, as

thousands of farmers have marched on. westminster, first unveiled in rachel reeves budget, the plans to impose inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million has sparked fury among rural communities. the president of the national farmers union says labour has destroyed a contract between farming and the government, dating back to the second world war, with its changes to inheritance tax. however, environment secretary steve reed says due to inheriting a £22 million black hole from the previous governments, labour had no choice. >> this government's commitment to farming and to farmers is absolute. that's why we've allocated £5 billion to farming in the budget. that's the biggest amount of money in our country's history for sustainable food production. but we have to plug that £22 billion black hole in our public finances . otherwise we can't fix finances. otherwise we can't fix our public services like the broken national health service. so it's only right that we've had to ask the wealthiest landowners and the biggest farms

to pay their fair share. but i would emphasise only around 500 farms will be affected. the vast majority of farmers will pay no more under the new scheme than they do under the current one. >> speaking at the protests in westminster, shadow secretary of state for environment , food and state for environment, food and rural affairs victoria atkins says the impact on farmers will be huge. >> the real life impacts of this are enormous because we know already around kitchen tables, in farms, up and down the country, farmers have got advice from their accountants, from their business advisers, and they are deeply, deeply worried and distressed that if older members of the family live past march 2026, when this change comes in, then they are faced with an enormous inheritance tax bill. when that dear, beloved relative passes on. and when i say, you know, huge bills, we're talking hundreds of thousands of pounds, possibly even over a million among the thousands of farmers attending the protests

today, there have also been many of the future generation hoping to take over their family's farm. >> one day earlier, one of the farmer hopefuls told 6b news he wants the government to rethink . wants the government to rethink. >> its just important because family farms are what have like provided food for england through two world wars and up to now. so it's a vital part of like our economy. it's a way of life. it's not a job. i've been brought up around farming and i can't really imagine my life without it. i just want people to listen. i just want the government to hear what we're saying and at least have a look. go back to the drawing board and just see if they can do it better and help more family farms like us. >> in other news, russia says ukraine fired us, supplied long—range missiles into the country for the first time today. >> the ministry of defence in moscow says ukraine ukraine used the army tactical missile system in a strike on russia's bryansk region this morning. ukraine is yet to comment . it comes after yet to comment. it comes after the us president, joe biden, gave the green light to kyiv to

use us supplied long—range missiles to strike inside russia. russia says it has changed its nuclear policy as moscow signals anger over the us missile decision. downing street responded today , saying putin's responded today, saying putin's decision to raise the issue of nuclear weapons again is the latest example of irresponsibility from, quote, the depraved russian government . the depraved russian government. the defence secretary says allies must come together to back ukraine and ensure vladimir, vladimir putin, quote, does not succeed as britain announced further military aid for kyiv on day 1000 of the war, the ministry of defence says the uk will provide £7.5 million for new attack and surveillance drones . it also comes amid drones. it also comes amid concerns about a potential change of us stance under us president elect donald trump, who says he wants to end the conflict in a day. the £7.5 million will be invested through the drone coalition with other allies providing an additional

£16 million, including ten from germany, 3 million from canada and 3 million from luxembourg . and 3 million from luxembourg. and almost 200 schools have closed in england and wales, and new weather warnings issued as snow hits parts of the uk today in travel, thousands of train passengers are also suffering disruption due to severe weather. by 11 this morning, around 64 out of a total 120 services planned by east midlands railway were reportedly cancelled or delayed by at least 30 minutes. there are currently three yellow warnings in place for snow and ice in northern scotland. northern england and parts of northern ireland. the midlands and north—east wales. for now, those are the latest gb news headlines. i'm sophie reaper more from me in half an hour for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gb news .com forward slash alerts .

.com forward slash alerts. >> thank you sophie. now. westminster was a sea of woolly hats and wellies today as over 10,000 british farmers gathered to roar a message of defiance to the government. and here are some of them here with me in the studio, ladies and gentlemen. and children, welcome to gb news . and children, welcome to gb news. and children, welcome to gb news. and now we can speak to the gb news reporter. will hollis, who's in westminster. will's not there. let's talk to a few of you guys first. so would you mind if i went round and asked you your names and why you're here? what's your name, sir? my name is. >> my name is charlie harper. i'm a fourth generation farmer from kings sutton, northamptonshire. i'm here to just a bit back. british farming. everything is getting marginalised and just sort of see this as the final nail in the coffin. >> okay. and so in the end, what's your name and why are