bill 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 .7 those wellies.7 >> 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?| >> 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 million in capital assets before they have to pay 75,000. and that's because of the way in which inheritance tax works and in which the way in which the apr works means that if you're two people inheriting, that could be a farmer and her husband. it could be a brother in there and a sister inheriting that farm, they can have up to

£3 million in assets before they pay any £3 million in assets before they pay any inheritance tax . and pay any inheritance tax. and even when they do, martin, as you know, they don't pay 40% inheritance tax like my constituents would have to. they pay constituents would have to. they pay 20% inheritance tax. so if you're looking at a fair taxation system, the rest of the country is looking and saying, how come farmers get these tax breaks? well, and one more thing, because barry , the key thing, because barry, the key point is the country won't go hungry if a flat in brent no gets hit with an inheritance tax, the country will go hungry. >> if farms are broken up, well, can i just answer the point? >> because the point is this . if >> because the point is this. if you look and this is work that's been done by the university of warwickshire at the centre for tax studies there. if you look at all the people who claimed the inheritance tax in the last yean

the inheritance tax in the last year, 44%, just 44% of those had at any time in the past five years received any income from trading agricultural produce. okay. it's used. it is used as a way of avoiding inheritance tax by people who buy up land. it might be buy some. >> well, it might be buy 6% of. i know you could talk until christmas, but let's bring greg smith in for a conservative perspective on this isn't part of the issue here is that this adherence, this slavish adherence, this slavish adherence to fiscal policy, without understanding, actually the human impact, the fact that a flat in brent, with the greatest respect isn't the same as a farm. and that is why the rules were changed to enable farms to stay in families, to protect estates, to protect continuity, to protect food security, and to make sure we don't go hungry. that's absolutely right. >> and when i talk to farmers in my constituency, actually, i talk kemi badenoch to a farm in my constituency last thursday, they've worked out it's a 380 acre arable farm in long crendon

in buckinghamshire. they've worked out that if they got hit by the full iht , with april by the full iht, with april gone, if they borrowed the to money pay it 40 years to pay it back, we've got to remember that farms operate on tiny margins. we're talking about under 1% for many of them. roger said that he has worked out it would take 40 years to pay back that debt. all the alternative is to sell about a third of the farm. and if you sell a third of the farm, you don't have a viable business left anymore. the clue is in the question. if you're operating on a 1% margin and you lose a third of your land, you're most valuable asset. the literal thing that which you can produce food on, you're done . you're food on, you're done. you're oven food on, you're done. you're over. there's no future bill rammell is it worth it? >> what the labour party has done here? £1.5 billion saved on the winter fuel allowance . was the winter fuel allowance. was that worth it? half £1 billion is going to be raised through this tax annually from farmers. that's £2 billion total. you spent £10 billion on pay rises for teachers and nhs workers.

politics is about choices. the backlash has been massive. was this the wrong choice ? this the wrong choice? >> no, i think i think it was the right choice. and look, you can make a critique of any set of tax changes . can make a critique of any set of tax changes. but can make a critique of any set of tax changes . but what the of tax changes. but what the budget did deliver was a huge extra level of investment, particularly into the national health service. and that's what people voted for. >> you can't make out that if you don't tax farmers on inheritance tax, the nhs will stop. >> we've heard this my entire life, martin. you can make that argument about any of the tax changes. the bottom line is government has to raise taxes. look, i've got the greatest respect for farmers. in my experience. they work hard and they make a vital contribution to society. but i would urge them to look at the detail of these changes, because the reaction since the budget has been completely out of kilter with the facts. this is not a set of changes targeted at farmers per se. it's targeted at the very wealthiest farmers and the very wealthiest farmers and the very wealthiest landowners . the very wealthiest landowners. and one married couple can pass on £3 million without paying a

penny of inheritance tax. that is a deal that no one else in society gets. >> okay, let's now introduce some of the audience. and we have any farmers, a couple of farmers at the front here. so you've heard what the labour party's representatives have to say. it's nothing to worry about. you can get £3 million. it's a great idea for farmers, sir. what's your name? tell us, what's your answer? >> i'm tony hoffer and i'm from banbury. yeah , yeah, it sounds banbury. yeah, yeah, it sounds wonderful, doesn't it? you know . wonderful, doesn't it? you know. yeah. what's the problem ? the yeah. what's the problem? the trouble is, is that when we. we have got a very small farm. >> and how many acres do you have ? have? >> well, we own probably about 100. yeah, right. we are 12 miles away from jeremy clarkson . miles away from jeremy clarkson. right. in the last, i don't know, ten years. we've got soho farmhouse down the road . the farmhouse down the road. the property prices around us have just gone through the roof. yeah . just gone through the roof. yeah. farming hasn't gone up, has it? you know what we get is still about the same. machinery has gone up . everything's gone up. gone up. everything's gone up. so now you've changed this . this so now you've changed this. this

tax and you know, and it's not just the land. it's now our machinery and everything that we've all got to pay, which is fair enough. i mean nobody no farmer minds paying tax if we're actually getting something to pay actually getting something to pay the tax for. >> can i just. >> can i just. >> yeah . yeah. no, you crack on >> yeah. yeah. no, you crack on huge respect for what you say. >> and you're absolutely right that land values land. the value of land has just gone through the roof . now, one of the the roof. now, one of the impacts of this is actually to bnng impacts of this is actually to bring land prices. >> farmers get taxed when they die because suddenly it's gone up in value. >> martin, if you can just let me finish. the point is that as i pointed out earlier, 56% of the people who are benefiting from the inheritance tax are not farmers. they are people who buy land in order to avoid tax. and what that does is push up the price of land. >> it means test it and go after that low and leave these sort of lads alone. >> for you guys who are actually trying to farm, and particularly

for tenant farmers who can't afford the land that they want to buy, which i understand, and i get that . i get that. >> but the trouble is, from our point of view, and we're only a small farm, but i know we're going to be affected by this . right? >> is what's your estimate of what your farm is worth? >> i don't know what it'd be worth. two with the buildings and all that. oh, god. i've even gone into the machinery. i even had a chat with a man in a bowler hat. yet, because i need to, you know, we want to see if it will settle and just see what we, you know, to go. you're going to be talking two and a half, 3 million. >> and are you married ? yeah. so >> and are you married? yeah. so you're actually not going to be affected. >> i know what you're saying. wait for this gentleman . wait wait for this gentleman. wait for this, wait for this. so also because back in the late 70s, early 80s, my uncle started a contracting business because the farm wasn't big enough to sustain everything. >> i'm afraid we have to leave it there. we'll come back to this in a minute. i'm sure we have to move on. we will come back to you. but we have to tell you about this tomorrow. we've

got a world exclusive. donald trump's son eric talks exclusively to gb news, and my colleague ben leo has been in snowy aberdeen today. speaking to the president elect's offspring at donald's famous golf course. he even had a message for uk farmers let's take a listen. >> we love you and we're sorry , >> we love you and we're sorry, no different. the farmers in the us, we love them and we're sorry they were treated horribly. so oftentimes the farmers were taken away. so oftentimes regulation kill their their businesses made it impossible for them to put food on the table. the cost of fuel killed them, absolutely killed them . them, absolutely killed them. inheritance tax, which my father actually eliminated for farmers in the united states. and the true kind of very wholesome farmer who wanted to work the land their land with their own hands failed to exist, and it went to some massive conglomerate . and that was not conglomerate. and that was not good for society . and so my good for society. and so my father eliminated the inheritance tax as it related to the transfer of, of agriculture.

really ? i see what's happening really? i see what's happening to the farmers over here. and it directly mirrors so much of kind of the strife that so many of the farmers in the united states had for, for so long, i don't know, a lot of governments have have come out to almost be anti—farmer, and i haven't quite figured out why. i mean, it feels like there's some of the greatest people you have in society, right? i mean, there's people that wake up at the crack of dawn, one of the hardest jobs , of dawn, one of the hardest jobs, tough any farmer you've ever met. i mean, a real farmer, not like fake farmer, right? not like, you know, i've got a flat in london and i've got a little tomato bush on the back porch. i'm talking about real farmer people who work the land. these are tough, gritty, hardworking people who generally are incredibly patriotic. i love family , love god, and just want family, love god, and just want to work and be left alone . to work and be left alone. >> that's eric trump. they're sticking up for british farmers . sticking up for british farmers. shame. more of our parliamentarians don't do the same and catch that bombshell interview. just weeks after the donald won the us election tomorrow on patrick christys tonight, this place at 9:00 pm only on gb news tomorrow. now, still to come. i'll be talking

to former mp khalid mahmood of labour to hear more on labour's defence of their raid on british farmers . and that's next. this farmers. and that's next. this is patrick christys tonight with me. martin daubney only on gb. news .

thank you very much. you're too kind. welcome back. since patrick christys tonight with me

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