A former aide to Tony Blair has called on Labour to “do to the farmers what Thatcher did to the miners“. The Telegraph has more.
John McTernan, who was Sir Tony’s Political Secretary, told the Chancellor not to budge on her inheritance tax raid on agricultural land, saying Labour “don’t need small farmers”.
Under changes announced by Rachel Reeves last month, farming assets worth more than £1 million will be liable for 20% inheritance tax from next year.
“If the farmers want to go on the streets, we can do to them what Margaret Thatcher did to the miners,” Mr. McTernan told GB News.
“It’s an industry we can do without. If people are so upset that they want to go on the streets and spread slurry, then we don’t need small farmers.”
Thousands of farmers, including Jeremy Clarkson, are expected to descend on Westminster on November 19th to oppose Ms. Reeves’s new tax, claiming it will force many family farms out of business.
Some are threatening more radical plans, including targeting ports and disrupting supermarket supply chains by withholding produce and livestock.
The move to blockade ports would mirror widespread protests across Europe earlier this year, when farmers used their tractors to barricade the Belgian port of Zeebrugge, as well as the routes to several ports in Germany.
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