Farmers hold tax protest outside BBC building in Southampton
Farmers have parked tractors outside a BBC building in a protest over changes to inheritance tax.About 40 vehicles converged on the centre in Havelock Road, Southampton, at midday, leaving two hours later.Organisers said the government's decision in October 2024 to limit tax relief for farms to £1m had not been sufficiently covered by the BBC and other media.The BBC has so far made no official comment.
A farmer from Bishop's Waltham, who gave his name as Mark, said the tax hike would mean the "end of the family farm".He said: "You won't be able to keep going. The inheritance charge will be so high. "The politicians brush it under the carpet. And we don't feel we get that much coverage on the BBC et cetera either. "The Archers - it's taken them forever to mention the fact about the Inheritance Tax."Fifteen hundred tractors went to London and in some parts of the press there was very little mention of that."
The changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) are due to come into effect in April 2026.Previously, the government said the reform would only affect the wealthiest 500 estates each year with smaller farms not affected.It said the millions of pounds in APR claimed each year by a small number of estates could be better used to fund public services.
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