Britain’s farming industry faces an existential threat thanks to a devastating tax raid by Rachel Reeves. But the entire nation will suffer as a result. The Chancellor’s hated inheritance tax changes risk higher prices at the checkout and threaten the UK’s food security in an increasingly uncertain world.

Labour went into the last general election vowing not to increase taxes for “working people”. But once the voting was over, Rachel Reeves announced a series of tax hikes including a rise in national insurance for employers and a levy on farms worth over £1 million.

A year on from last October’s Budget, farmers are still up in arms over the “family farm tax”, which has prompted a series of major protests and has seen hundreds of tractors descending on Westminster.

For years, they have had inheritance tax relief allowing them to hand down their farms, which are often asset-rich but cash-poor, to the next generation without incurring a bill.

But from next April, farmers will face a 20% rate on combined agricultural and business property above £1 million, or £3 million for couples.

Campaigners have warned the changes could spell the end of family farms across the country as they will be forced to sell off land to pay the charges.

There have been reports of desperate farmers pushed to the brink of suicide by the policy due to the prospect of undoing their life’s work.

Mental health was already a major issue in the sector due to crippling financial pressures and long hours often spent working alone in remote areas.

Critics have also raised fears over the impact on UK food security if farms are breaking up at a time when global tensions are rising.

Vladimir Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine pushed up food prices and nobody knows what the sabre-rattling Russian President will do next.

Around 60% of the food consumed in the UK is currently domestically produced, including most cereals, meat, dairy and eggs. However the amount is lower for fruit and vegetables.

But this is dependent on a series of factors including extreme weather and diseases in plants and animals.

The National Farmers’ Union has warned that the inheritance tax road could push up food costs.

And in a further blow, Labour suddenly paused a key green farming initiative earlier this year without any warning which sparked more upset.

Jeremy Clarkson’s hit TV series Clarkson’s Farm has helped raise awareness of the huge pressures on agriculture.

For most farmers it is a way of life, with the average return on capital less than 1%.

But campaigners warn the inheritance tax blow is the final straw for the under-pressure sector.

Polling suggests that farmers have the British public on their side.

Research by the More in Common think tank carried out the month after the changes were announced found 57% said farmers should not pay inheritance tax on their farms.

Labour voters were more likely to say farmers should not have to pay the levy than say they were.

Respondents also highlighted farmers as one of the three biggest losers from the Chancellor’s Budget.

More recent research in August showed that almost half of respondents said the policy reflects poorly on the Government, compared to only a fifth who said it reflects well.

The polling revealed that the inheritance tax changes had high public awareness and were ranked among Labour’s more unpopular decisions.

The move was even less popular than Labour’s £25 billion national insurance raid on employers, which has come under fire for hitting wages, hiring and prices.

The Government has insisted that most farms will not be affected by the plan and blamed the state of the public finances they inherited from the Tories.

They have also suggested that the relief had been used by the wealthy to avoid inheritance tax.

But ministers were urged to delay the reforms and consider alternative options by an influential group of cross-party MPs earlier this year.

A report by the Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee said the changes were made without “adequate consultation, impact assessment or affordability assessment”.

A handful of Labour MPs in rural seats have also broken ranks to speak out against the controversial measure as they face the likelihood of being ousted at the next election.

The Government’s decision to backtrack on deeply unpopular winter fuel payment cuts for pensioners raised hopes of a similar reversal on the inheritance tax for farmers.

The Chancellor announced in July last year that the previously universal allowance would be scrapped for all but the poorest OAPs.

The move sparked a furious backlash from opposition parties, charities and unions with warnings that older people would be forced to choose between heating and eating.

After almost a year of intense pressure Ms Reeves announced a U-turn in June which saw the payments restored to the majority of pensioners.

Prominent tax expert Dan Neidle has put forward an alternative to the farm inheritance tax plans with a “minimum share rule”.

Under the proposals, where a farm forms at least 60% of an estate, there would be full relief from inheritance tax up to £5 million or £10 million for a married couple.

There would be 50% relief for £5 to £10 million per person, and after that point there would be no further relief.

He argued that his plan would be “fairer for small farms and businesses, tougher on avoidance and raise more tax”.

Fresh speculation has swirled that the policy could be tweaked ahead of next month’s Budget.

Officials at the Department for Environment and Rural Affairs were said to be looking at options to ease the impact on small farmers.

It is understood that the discussions focused on bumping up the £1 million threshold.

But farming minister Dame Angela Eagle moved to quash the rumours as she insisted there would be no U-turn on the inheritance tax plans.

She took to the airwaves to insist that the Treasury is not “going to move” despite warnings over the devastation the tax raid will cause.

But farmers are keeping up the pressure as they prepare to stage a “Day of Unity” in the run-up to the Chancellor’s November 26 statement.

The peaceful action on November 24 will see tractor go-slow demonstrations across the country from 10am to 4pm, deliberately avoiding peak time to minimise disruption to the general public.

The Conservatives, Reform UK and the Lib Dems have been fierce critics of the inheritance tax raid.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said her party was “fighting for the farmers putting food on our tables” in her keynote conference speech.

And Reform leader Mr Farage warned that farming is the “backbone of our country” in an article for the Daily Express earlier this year.

He added that it “provides essential food supply” and is “an industry we cannot afford to lose”.

Both parties have pledged to reverse the changes if they win the next general election.

The Daily Express is continuing to campaign for a U-turn on the inheritance tax raid with our Save Britain’s Family Farms crusade.