Farmers and growers have been betrayed by the UK Government according to NFU president Tom Bradshaw who made a barnstorming speech at the Church House rally in London.

Over three sessions the English union leader addressed an audience of 1800 where he pointed out the shortcomings of the Labour Government’s budget which has dramatically increased the tax take from agriculture.

Speaking from the podium Mr Bradshaw said: “You don’t need me to tell you farmers and growers put up with a lot, but it takes something extraordinary to get us to react like this and this betrayal on APR/BPR is extraordinary, and it affects farmers from every corner of Britain.

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“I don’t think I’ve ever seen the industry this angry, this disillusioned and this upset. And given what we’ve had to be angry about in recent years that’s saying something.

“This shocking policy built on bad data and launched with no consultation. The Treasury didn’t even tell Defra!

“It is full of let-downs for our vital sector: accelerated BPS reductions, double cab pick-up taxes, new taxes on fertilisers. The list goes on.

“There has never been a budget this bad for farming in my lifetime.

“Far from catching wealthy homeowners with a bit of land, the Treasury’s mangling of the data means those people will generally not be affected. It’s the farms producing this country’s food, which are more valuable assets, that are caught in the eye of the storm.

“The irony that this asset wealth will never become actual wealth unless farms are broken up or sold – kicking the legs out from under Britain’s food security – is a bitter one. And they will need to be broken up or sold, because farmers simply won’t have the money to pay this tax any other way.

“First they said this policy would protect ‘the majority of farms’. When they couldn’t hold that line they changed to saying they were protecting ‘small family farms’. And when that fell apart, only last night, they switched to suggesting this mess of a policy would make ‘the most valuable farms’ pay.

“Our request is simple – this is a policy that will rip the heart of out of Britain’s family farms, launched on bad data with no consultation and it must be halted and considered properly, taking in the views of the experts not just Treasury civil servants.

“Tell MPs your stories, from the heart. Tell them how this affects you, your farm, your family and your future.

“As you’d expect, a huge amount of effort has gone in behind the scenes as well as publicly. We’ll continue that too.

“It may be that ministers think today will be ‘it’, that we’ll get tired and they can just wait this out. Well farmers may get tired, but as every one of you in this room knows, they don’t give up. We won’t give up. We won’t stop fighting this nationally or locally, in every constituency. If they don’t realise that, they really don’t know farmers at all.

“Today isn’t the culmination of our efforts. It’s the start.”

NFUS president Martin Kennedy, who joined Mr Bradshaw on stage at the event, said: “Tom Bradshaw made a fantastic speech, right on the button, speaking on behalf of a united front from the four UK unions. The emotion was high in Church House, and the frustration was palpable.

“The UK Government gave no consultation on the changes. We have no problem with paying tax on income or profit, but this is taxing the asset which generates income.

“I think Labour has no choice but to back down. If they think London was a one-hit wonder, they are mistaken. We will not back down. They will have to move, or it will happen again and again. They cannot continue with it.”