tonight with me. martin daubney. tonight we delve into the farmers protests that have rocked westminster. earlier on today and plenty of those farmers are with us tonight as part of a very special live studio audience. welcome to the studio. that's you . now, today, studio. that's you. now, today, today we've seen deep, deep despair. >> i don't make any money on the farm. i run the farm because it's in my blood. i run the farm because i've got a son who's 21 year old who's passionate about farming, and we're seeing solidarity . solidarity. >> nigel farage is here, of course . coui'se. >> course. >> what an unbelievable turnout night. yeah , and it's just the night. yeah, and it's just the start and magnificently , we've start and magnificently, we've seen jeremy clarkson reaching the end of his tether with the bbc. so it's not about you. >> it's not about your farm. and the fact that you bought a farm to avoid inheritance tax. >> on the other side of the classic bbc, their classic . classic bbc, their classic. >> oh, haven't we all felt like that before? classic bbc trying to stiff somebody who doesn't

agree with them. now joining me and our audience for the first hour tonight we have the conservative mp greg smith. we have the labour mp barry gardiner and the former labour minister bill rammell. gardiner and the former labour minister bill rammell . welcome minister bill rammell. welcome to the studio, gentlemen. so fasten your seatbelts for a farm tastic show . tastic show. so coming next is the farmers fury in their own words. but that's right. after your headunes that's right. after your headlines with sophie reaper . headlines with sophie reaper. >> thank you. martin, the time is just after 9:00. and these are your latest headlines. farming leaders have accused the chancellor of refusing to engage with them over controversial changes to inheritance tax . changes to inheritance tax. that's as thousands of farmers have marched on westminster today. first unveiled in rachel reeves budget , the plans to reeves budget, the plans to impose inheritance tax on farms

worth more than £1 million have sparked fury among rural communities. speaking at the protests in westminster , shadow protests in westminster, shadow secretary of state for environment, food and rural affairs victoria atkins says the impact on farmers will be huge 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 protest 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 gb 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. >> meanwhile, defence minister luke pollard has visited the training centre for operation interflex today. the operation is the uk's armed forces programme, which has helped train 50,000 ukrainian troops since russia's invasion began in 2022. mr pollard says that the uk will continue to support ukraine with programmes like this for as long as it takes. >> well, the situation in ukraine is very serious. russian aggression against the ukrainian people is not only targeting ukrainian troops on the front line, but targeting energy and critical national infrastructure. as winter approaches. there's one person who could stop this war. there's one person who could stop the escalation and could stop the attacks on civilians. that one person is president putin. at every stage. it is russia that

has escalated. but our support for ukraine is undimmed. we are doubung for ukraine is undimmed. we are doubling down on our support with more military equipment and kit and training going to ukraine, and will continue to do that for as long as it takes. >> and finally, following widespread snow and ice today, the uk is preparing for further bad weather over the coming days. a new ice warning has now come into force for much of southern england, the midlands and eastern wales, which will remain in place until 10:00 tomorrow morning. that's alongside several other warnings for snow and ice issued across the uk . for now, those are the the uk. for now, those are the latest gb news headlines. i'm sophie reaper and now it's back to the fabulous martin daubney for the very latest gb news direct to your smartphone , sign direct to your smartphone, sign up to news alerts by scanning the qr code, or go to gb news .com . .com. >> forward slash alerts .

>> forward slash alerts. got those wellies ? those wellies? >> that's me doing the most banging there now a very, very good evening and welcome once again to tonight's live studio audience. welcome to the show. now around 10,000 followers. actually i think the police said 20,000 farmers descended on the capital earlier on today in protest against the labour government's inheritance tax raid on british farmers. here's what one of them had to say to us before the election. >> they came to the nfu conference and promises they wouldn't put up taxes. they promised they wouldn't put up the inheritance tax and they lied. and they're now blaming if they don't get this money, they won't have enough money for the national health service. and we are here today because we have been betrayed and my farm has been betrayed and my farm has been owned by the same family for since 1551. i'm only a caretaker. my generation and my children and my cousins, they will be caretakers for the next generation. we are to here produce cheap food for this country, and our family survived

the first world war. many of my members fell on the battlefields of flanders. our farm was shot up and bombed during the second world war, having farm workers killed. we're not about to lie down and have our family inheritance stolen from us to waste money on the vanity projects of the labour party. >> that is the very, very best of british. and meanwhile, our political editor, christopher hope spoke to the prime minister who's livin la vida loca. he's at the g20 summit in rio de janeiro, 6000 miles away, where the labour party is too urban to truly understand the frustrations of those living and working in the british countryside. >> my first job was on a farm, okay?i >> my first job was on a farm, okay? i grew up, i grew up in the countryside. all of my entire family live in the countryside, and we're a rural family. i'm the only one that lives in a city. i do get it. and that's why i'm able to say with confidence that that threshold for a typical case at £3 million is a very high

threshold , and therefore the threshold, and therefore the vast majority of farms will be unaffected. but i also do know that it matters to rural communities that we are investing in their nhs. they rely on it just as much as anybody in a town or city. it matters that their schools are fit for their children, and it matters hugely that there's enough housing for them and their families that's affordable in rural areas. >> well, there you go. so he was the son of a toolmaker. now it's starmer, the former. do he believe it? do you think he gets it? let's get the thoughts now of my panel. of course. that's the conservative mp greg smith, labour mp barry gardiner and the former labour minister bill rammell . barry gardiner. i feel rammell. barry gardiner. i feel duty bound to start with you as a representative of this government. jeremy clarkson said earlier on today that labour has cocked up . you need to do the cocked up. you need to do the right thing and back down. has he got a point? >> no, i don't think so. i think actually the new tax changes are absolutely right. and let me explain why i don't have a

farming constituency . right. farming constituency. right. i've been a minister in the department for environment, food and rural affairs. i've been on the select committee for goodness knows how many years, but i think it is doing the right thing. and i'll tell you why. my constituents , if they why. my constituents, if they have a flat in wembley. >> right. which, by the way, is the least rural constituency in all of christendom, just about a flat in wembley, let's say they have total assets of 500,000, because a flat in wembley cost about 450,000. >> they would pay on that £70,000 inheritance tax for a farmer to have to pay that £70,000 inheritance tax , they £70,000 inheritance tax, they would have capital assets not of £500,000, but a minimum of 1.35 million. and actually they could have 3.35 m