Farmers who attended the London rally voice their concerns

Mrs Tarver, a grandmother of nine said the government did not understand rural communities and said she and her husband had tried to live ‘carefully’ to pass on the farm to their children.

She added: “It’s very alarming actually that the government has so little knowledge of how the countryside works. They’re all from north London, I gather and they haven’t even tried to get their information together correctly.”

Adrian Gleed and Andrew Timbrell, sheep and arable farmers respectively Mr Tarver stated that they are living off the bare minimum, just enough to get by and that these changes have left many in a dark place.

He said: “To me, it hasn’t been thought through at all. Even if you accept the principle of it, they really haven’t because they’re saying very few famers will be affected, well that just isn’t right.

“We all know that a farm that’s actually producing food has to be of a certain size and it would easily be over that sort of threshold.”

Richard Simmons, fifth-generation farmer Adrian Gleed and Andrew Timbrell made the journey to Westminster from Cirencester, Gloucestershire to protest against the government’s tax changes.

Mr Gleed, a father of three runs a 500 acre sheep farm in the south of England, questioned whether the government have any respects for the countryside or farming.

He believes the government are living in ‘cuckoo land’ and have an inflated belief that farmers are all rich, he said: “Last year, I earned nothing, nothing at all, my tax bill was zero, that’s how bad it was.”

Katie James, NSA communications manager, with her young family Mr Timbrell furthered this belief, stating neither he or his son withdraw a wage from the 650 acres they farm (200/a owned), instead seeking finance from other ventures.

“There is no money, spare cash in the farming business to take a wage off of it. And if you did, there would be no reinvestment in any machinery or sheds or even concrete or anything,” explained Mr Timbrell.

Richard Simmons, a 51-year-old farmer from Chelmsford, Essex believes that unless reversed these changes will spell the end for farming. He suggests that land will gradually be sold off to non-farming businesses until no family farms remain.

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Mr Simmons stated that farming is a way of life, not just a job and that this move won’t hit the people Labour believes it will.

He argued: “The land’s gone up [in price] because people have been investing in it, like big, foreign multinationals as it’s a tax-free way of investing money.

“All it has done is reduced the rate [of IHT] from nothing to 20%, they’re still getting 20% off. These people that invest in land - they’re not farmers.”

Katie James, a farmer from Worcestershire, and communications manager for the NSA, attended the protest accompanied by her two young children.

Mrs James expressed fears for her children’s futures and stated that the budget was the final straw for many frustrated farmers.

She said: “The proposed change to IHT is just one part of this frustration but it threatens the future of family farms in the UK which are the beating heart of our sector.

“This is why the protest is so important and I’m proud to walk alongside the many thousands of farmers here today.”roud to walk alongside the many thousands of farmers here today."