Hastings: Farmers' tractor convoy descends on town as part of national protest

A tractor convoy made up of farmers descended on Hastings and St Leonards on Friday (January 17) as part of a national protest.

The convoy, made up of 15 tractors, travelled to supermarkets across the borough and parked outside.

The group of farmers also wrote to each of the supermarket chains to inform them that their convoy would be parked outside the store to ‘engage with the community and highlight the importance of supporting British farmers’.

Leaflets were handed out to members of the public, encouraging them to back British farming.

The convoy was one of several which have sprung up all over the UK in recent weeks, as farmers continue to protest the impact of planned changes to the inheritance tax threshold.

The changes were announced by Chancellor Rachel Reeves late last year in the Budget, which also promised additional spending on transport infrastructure and public services.

Inheritance tax relief, the Government announced, will be capped at farms with combined business and agricultural assets of just £1 million - a figure which, many farmers have said, will make it impossible for small and medium-sized farms to continue operating.

The Government has insisted that the change is only likely to affect some 2,000 estates each year. Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner recently reiterated a ‘commitment to farmers and the vital role they play to feed our nation’.

Richard Yeoman, representing the convoy that came to Hastings on Friday, said: “As a group of Sussex farmers, we came together last Friday to continue to gain awareness and support against the proposed changes to APR and BPR (agricultural and business property relief), as these changes will drastically affect the farms in this region.

“Our landscape has been forged by generations of family farms, proudly producing the highest quality food in the world. Already squeezed by supermarkets, working on tiny margins, these changes will mean the majority of farms will be broken up, sold and lost forever to pay for a tax that is unaffordable to an already struggling sector.

“We came together on Friday to continue to raise awareness to the public, whose support is invaluable and who will see the impact themselves on the supermarket shelves and the rural views that they have loved. Please continue to support us to fight this tax while we continue to fight to feed you.”

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