‘We can easily do it’: Keir Starmer dealt with empty shelves threat as ‘betrayed’ farmers plan action

Asked by Dawn just how far farmers might be prepared to go to force the Government’s hand, Hilditch ruled out any Just Stop Oil-like tactics.

But she said they could “easily” ensure food supply is heavily disrupted.

“I don’t think in general we’re really like that but we can do things, we can easily get the shelves empty for a few days and we can not take sewage sludge from all the water companies, we can cause difficulty”, she said.

“I am personally not militant. The rally on Tuesday, we’re taking food for food banks, we’re trying to get solidarity from people rather than have people irritated at us for jumping up and down.

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“Think about your food and where it comes from and where it will keep coming from. There’s no doubt prices will go up if this crusade continues.”

The new taxes for farms worth more than £1 million have left farmers feeling “betrayed”, according to the farming union chief.

But he told Sky News withholding food should not be on the table.

“That is not an NFU tactic, we do not support emptying supermarket shelves, but I do completely understand the strength of feeling that there is amongst farmers, they feel helpless today, and they’re trying to think of what can they do to try and demonstrate what this means to them.

“So look, I understand their strength of feeling, but we are not supporting that action.”

Treasury data shows that around three-quarters of farmers will pay nothing in inheritance tax as a result of the controversial changes announced in the Budget last month.

But farmers have challenged the figures, pointing to data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which suggests 66 per cent of farm businesses are worth more than the £1 million threshold at which inheritance tax will now need to be paid.

Starmer has repeatedly defended changes to inheritance tax for farms, insisting most will be unaffected and the Government just needs to “keep explaining” how it will work.

The Prime Minister said during a visit to North Wales on Friday: “I know some farmers are anxious about the inheritance tax rules that we brought in two weeks ago.

“What I would say about that is, once you add the £1 million for the farm land to the £1 million that is exempt for your spouse, for most couples with a farm wanting to hand on to their children, it’s £3 million before anybody pays a penny in inheritance tax.

“And that is why the vast majority of farms are going to be totally unaffected by this. And it’s really important we get that through.”

He added: “So we just need to keep explaining how that works, because I know it’s caused some anxiety.”