A local farmer could be forced to sell his fourth-generation farm after the new Labour government puts in place a 20 per cent inheritance tax on agricultural assets over £1 million.
Dylan Dearsley, 22, from King’s Lynn in Norfolk, has been among thousands of people attending protests after the new family farm tax was announced by chancellor Rachel Reeves. It will apply from April 2026.
He said: “These new rules are going to ruin British farming. It will affect every working farm and every farmer.”
He attended a mass protest in Westminster in November – in which 20,000 farmers descended on the capital – and plans to go to others, which will be held throughout 2025.
He said: “My family farm is just under 200 acres, and I will not be able to pay the amount [the government] wants. Which subsequently means the farm will have to be sold.”
And he added: “I have no doubt we will continue to protest until something is done. They are destroying the country. No farmers, no food, no future.”
Dearsley’s grandfather, Rodney Dearsley, 74, added: “Farmers don’t make a lot of money as it is.”Brit