Crowds are dispersing from Whitehall as farmers clamber into their tractors and head home.

The Met Police estimates that around 10,000 turned up to protest a change to inheritance tax, which would see people taxed at 20% on assets worth over £1m.

As celebrity figures including Jeremy Clarkson joined the ranks, here's how the day played out:

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Jenny Kumah
Rural Affairs Correspondent, reporting from Westminster

Three generations of the Lathan family have come to Westminster today, 86-year-old Robin, his son Phil, and his 15-year-old grandson Sam, who live on a dairy farm in Cheshire.

Phil tells me: “Dad's 86 and there's no time for him to take advice. And as for the seven year gifting rule, it’s unlikely at his age that he will get to the other side of that.

"And so inheriting the farm is going to cost me a fortune which threatens the viability of the business. The remarks that we get that its £3m - well it is not.

"Dad’s single, Mum died when I was 13. Sam's 15. He's desperate to be a farmer. And that's why we've come down.”

Image source, Reuters

Leaders of opposition parties also joined farmers during their protest in Westminster.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey earlier told farmers "you deserve so much better", the PA news agency reports.

He said that farmers are "fed up with being let down and taken for granted", and called the inheritance tax change "stupid".

Speculating that it will cause farms to sell up, he asked: "Who else will put healthy, nutritious food on our tables... If we lose the families who have been doing it so passionately for generations?"

The government has dismissed suggestions that three quarters of farmers could be affected by the introduction of inheritance tax (IHT) for agricultural property.

With thousands of farmers at the gates of Downing Street, Prime Minister Keir Starmer's official spokesperson says it is not possible to calculate how much IHT might be payable on the basis of the value of land alone.

“We would urge caution,” she tells reporters in Westminster, adding that the PM values the work farmers do “day in and day out”.

“Farmers are the stewards of the countryside. We do not underestimate their important contribution to the economy and our rural economy.”

The Country Land and Business Association says that capping agricultural property relief at £1m could harm 70,000 UK farms.

However, the government says Agricultural Property Relief is only claimed by 500 farms a year.

Downing Street says its calculations are based on actual claims and reiterates that a couple passing on a farm could claim £3m of inheritance tax relief.

“On that basis we believe the vast majority of claims will not be affected,” the spokesperson says, stressing the government’s approach would support the smallest farms.

The Metropolitan Police says tractor drivers who ploughed through barriers at the demonstration in London today will be reported.

A video on X shows a red tractor driving over a traffic cone and through a no entry sign.

In response, Scotland Yard says: "We've been engaging with those who brought tractors today and had no concerns with them driving around.

"However, driving over a police barrier line is not acceptable and the drivers will be reported for the offence."

Farmer Emma Robinson, 44, from north-west England, says she's "absolutely livid" and willing to take part in measures to disrupt food supplies if needed.

Her farm has been in her family for 500 years, she tells Reuters news agency. "It was my baton and I was going to pass it on to my kids," she says.

"It's been taken out of my hands by someone that's been in parliament for literally days," she adds, referring to Rachel Reeves' first Budget as chancellor in October.

Willingness to strike has been a sentiment echoed by other farmers at the protest today.

Justin Trott, a farmer from Somerset, tells Reuters the change to inheritance tax is "a complete attack on the rural culture of life".

Image source, EPA

The Metropolitan Police says the official farmers' protest has come to an end and crowds are beginning to disperse from Whitehall and the surrounding area in Westminster.

In a post on X, the force says: "We’re asking those who wish to stay in the area to move onto pavements so we can get the roads reopened and minimise further disruption."

Presenter-turned-TV farmer Jeremy Clarkson has been at the protest today, speaking to the media about his objections to the government's plans.

Watch below:

Image source, EPA-EFE/REX/Shutterstock

Just now, Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has taken to the stage at the rally.

There are loud cheers when she pledges to reverse what she calls “the family farms tax”, which she says is “going to destroy farming as we know it”.

“We know the burden that farmers are carrying” - “want you to know that we have your backs,” she continues.

Badenoch goes on to list some difficulties farmers face, including climate change, before suggesting that farming is “critical to growth” and warning that young farmers will leave if the tax change goes ahead.

“Farming is the backbone of this country,” she says.

Away from the political speeches, the next generation of farmers are staging their own protest.

Perched on tractors by London's Parliament Square, the childrens' signs say: "When I grow up I wanted to be a farmer" and "peddling for our future".

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Prime Minister Keir Starmer has just given an interview with broadcasters, saying he understands the concerns of farmers and "wants to support" them - but also stressing that the "vast majority of farms, would be unaffected" by the changes to inheritance tax.

Starmer then makes the case that the Labour government used the Budget to invest in other areas which affect rural communities, such as hospitals, schools and housing.

He adds that the government pledged £5bn over two years for "farming and food sustainability".

"That's hugely important for farmers, an additional amount for flooding that impacts them and on disease outbreak," the PM says.

Pressed on whether any changes could be made to the inheritance plans, Starmer replies: "It's very important for me to keep making the case that it's only farms and assets over £3m in a typical case of parents wanting to pass on to their children."

Telling broadcasters he is "confident the vast majority of farms will not be affected", Starmer also insists the government "had discussions yesterday with the farmers and will continue to do so because we must support them".

A fourth-generation farmer at the protest has told the PA news agency that he - along with other farmers - may have to strike if Labour's change to inheritance tax isn't reversed.

Richard Wainright, 58, from Halifax, says: "I hope it doesn't come to that because that's seriously going to impact the food chain."

He says his family might have to sell 20% of their farm to cover the tax bill of around £600,000.

David Spours, a tenant farmer from north Northumberland, says "every single farmer" in his area will be affected by the change.

On top of the changes to inheritance tax, Spours says changes to carbon emissions rules will increase the price of crop fertiliser.

He tells PA he will be £60,000 worse off next year, which combined with a rise in the cost of fertiliser means his prospects are "looking pretty grim".

Image source, PA Media

We’re hearing from a lot of farmers today on why they are upset about the inheritance tax change, but what has the government had to say?

Justifying the move, Environment Secretary Steve Reed says: “It’s only right to ask the very wealthiest farmers and those wealthy individuals who have been buying up agricultural land to avoid their own inheritance tax liability, to pay their fair share.”

Speaking to the BBC, he blames the reason for the change as a “£22bn black hole” left by the previous government.

Reed goes on to stress that the government’s commitment to farming is “absolute” and cites £5bn funding for the sector that was set out in the Budget.

He says that the “vast majority of farmers will pay no more” under the new scheme. He adds that data suggests approximately 500 will pay the new charges.

Image source, Reuters

The leader of Reform, Nigel Farage, has spoken in support of farmers in the past few days.

Last week he warned on GB News: "Don't underestimate the fury of farmers" and later posted on social media: "No farmers, no food".

Environment Secretary Steve Reed says the government "had to ask those with the broadest shoulders to pay a little bit more". The vast majority of farmers would "pay nothing" even after the changes, Reed says.

Analysis by the National Farmers Union suggests 75% of commercial farms over 50 hectares would be affected by the changes, its president Tom Bradshaw says.

The Metropolitan Police says it estimates around 10,000 are attending today's farming rally in Whitehall, with "more arriving" as the day goes on.

The National Farmers Union (NFU) president has told protesters in London that the inheritance tax changes for farmers are a "stab in the back".

Speaking before today's rally kicked off, Tom Bradshaw said: "We know the horrendous pressure it is putting on the older generation of farmers who have given everything to providing food for this country.

"We know that any tax revenue will be taken from our children and raised from those that die in tragic circumstances, all within the next seven years."

He added that "the human impact of this policy is simply not acceptable, it's wrong" and warned the policy was "kicking the legs out from under British food security".

Why has this row become so noisy so quickly?published at 12:02 Greenwich Mean Time

12:02 GMT

Chris Mason
Political editor

From the conversations I have had, I think there are three main reasons.

Firstly, inheritance tax, perhaps like no other tax, has an outsized emotive tug on so, so many people - in fact a far greater number of people than are ever likely to end up paying it.

The House of Commons Library, citing opinion polling, has described it as “the most unpopular tax in the UK”, even though just 3.7% of deaths led to an inheritance tax bill in 2020-21.

Some argue it is unfair as it represents double taxation; being taxed on money that has already been taxed.

For others, their opposition is much more deeply seated, a sense that it seeks to dilute the most human of all human emotions, to provide for your children when you are gone.

Secondly, throw into the mix a political rule first invented by the Economist magazine: “Never pick a fight with a profession that appears in a children’s book.”

Trades that are universally understood, at least in broad brush terms, and provide for our most essential needs can be very effective lobby groups, the argument goes.

Think doctors and nurses, but also farmers and food.

Thirdly, I am told it is worth seeing this row about inheritance tax in a wider context.

“It is the straw that has broken the camel’s back,” is how one farming source put it to me.

There was the new trade deal with Australia, which many farmers think undermines them.

There are the adjustments to farm subsidies being made after Brexit.

And there has been the seemingly never-ending chopping and changing of farming ministers as various prime ministers have come and gone. There have been five farming ministers in the last five years.

Put them all together and there is a disillusion and a widespread sense among farmers of not being listened to.

Westminster is certain to hear them this week.

Image source, Reuters

One of the figureheads of today’s protest is Top Gear presenter-turned on-screen farmer Jeremy Clarkson.

Speaking to the BBC in London, he suggests that the tax might be devastating for his new profession.

“It’s the end,” he warns. “If you actually stop and pay attention, it’s the end.”

“I talked to a man the other day, he has 600 cows so not massive, the cows alone are worth £1.2million,” he continues, signalling that the impact of the tax might be widespread in the community.

Fans of Clarkson’s show will recall numerous scenes of the TV star falling over in muddy conditions and looking flabbergasted at soaring bills in the mail, and he’s asked at the protest whether he regrets the decision to try his hand at farming.

“I don’t regret it because I’m a journalist at heart and it’s a good story,” he says.

How many farms will be affected?published at 11:44 Greenwich Mean Time

11:44 GMT

By Tamara Kovacevic, Anthony Reuben and Gerry Georgieva

There has been an outcry from many farmers following the changes to inheritance tax for farms announced in the Budget.

From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1m, which were previously exempt, will have to pay inheritance tax at 20% - half the usual rate.

We've seen a range of claims about how many farms will be affected.

The largest estimate - 70,000 - relates to the total number that could ever be affected. But the number of farms likely to be impacted each year is likely to be around 500.

How many farms will be affected? How much could be raised? And is the tax affordable? BBC Verify breaks down the key questions