Thousands attend farmers' rally against new inheritance tax at Eikon Centre as crowd told 'we are on the brink of losing it all'

William Irvine was speaking to the News Letter as an estimated 4,000 people upwards filed into the Eikon Centre outside Lisburn.

Perhaps 500 or so had to stand because they had run out of chairs.

The rally began at about 8.30pm, an hour later than billed, but even at 9pm there were still attendees flooding into the cavernous main hall from the freezing darkness outside.

One of the speakers, a dairy farmer from Newbuildings called Lorraine Killen (35), got a standing ovation from the crowd for her speech, in which she told the assembled throng “we feel cheated – cheated because everything we’ve worked for and built could be snatched away: our farms, our livelihoods, our legacies”.

She added: “We are angry. For generations we have poured everything into our farms. Every ounce of effort. And we’ve all made countless sacrifices. We've faced immense challenges and some of us have endured devastating losses – yet we’ve carried on.

"And now we stand on the brink of losing it all.”

Speaking to the News Letter as the event was getting underway, Mr Irvine said: “I’m really pleased with the turnout. It shows the depth of feeling in rural Northern Ireland to get this turnout on a nasty winter’s night.

"This attendance, without a word being said, sends a massively strong message to Westminster that this tax is unfair and not on.”

Does he expect them to listen?

“Probably in the first instance no, but this is the start of a journey. This is a nasty, sinister land-grab of a tax and the people here tonight are here for one reason: to register their disgust at what’s been done.”

When it came his time to take the podium and address the crowd, he told them: “This rally is the start, and we will not rule out further action if it is needed.

"The UFU is already taking steps to overturn this disgraceful move by chancellor Reeves.

"We are exploring all avenues, including legal options…

"We are farmers and we’re not going anywhere. This is a night for solidarity.”

The rally had been called on November 5, a week after the Labour government’s Autumn Budget, when it was announced that the longstanding exemption from inheritance tax for farms (known as Agricultural Property Relief) was being repealed.

Instead, farmers now face paying a 20% tax on all farms valued at over £1m when they transfer the farm to their children.

In other words, if a farm is valued at £1.5m, then £500,000 will be subject to the tax.

(With inheritance tax, if you survive more than seven years after you transfer an asset, it is exempt from the tax.)

Another dairy farmer called Jessica Pollock (30) from Castlederg drew a warm rush of applause after telling the crowd in her speech she had been in “disbelief” when the tax changes were announced.

"Whilst some farms may not be impacted immediately, the ever-rising value of land, stock and machinery suggests that even more farms will be affected by the limit on Agricultural Property Relief in the future.

"My father has a life-limiting illness. The thought of dealing with inheritance tax on top of grief and the stress of losing him is overwhelming.

"But this is not just my story. It’s a reality for many families…

"The changes to Agricultural Property Relief are not just a threat to the farms directly affected – they threaten the very fabric of our rural communities.”

Robbie Butler, UUP chairman of Stormont’s farming committee, shared his speech with the News Letter shortly before the event began. In it he said: “In 1956, Dwight Eisenhower remarked ‘farming looks mighty easy when your plough is a pencil and you’re a thousand miles from the cornfield’.

"Today, that sentiment cuts to the heart of the battle we now face for the future of farming families in Northern Ireland and across the United Kingdom.”

He dismissed the new inheritance tax as “ill-conceived” and a “cruel blow”, which would “wreak havoc to national food security and destroy our farming community”.

"Young farmers, who dream of carrying their heritage into the future, now see those dreams stripped away by the very government that relies on them to feed our nation,” he said.

"Older farmers, who have worked every day of their lives to hand down their family farms, now find their futures betrayed.

“And it doesn’t end there. The growing government-imposed pressures of un-ringfencing the agriculture budget, failing to provide inflationary increases for too many years, and demanding farmers tackle complex challenges such as TB, ammonia, and environmental targets have left them barely able to keep their heads above water.

“Now, this draconian budgetary move threatens to be the fatal hammer blow – not just to farmer’s livelihoods but to their mental health. For those on the front lines of feeding our nation, this burden is unsustainable.

"Make no mistake: this is more than an additional financial burden. It is an insult to the very people who sustain us...

"This is a fight for fairness, for the preservation of a way of life, and for the future of food security in the UK.”

DUP deputy Emma Little-Pengelly said the size of the crowd was “incredible”.

She said: “The thousands and thousands of people who have turned up here tonight sends a very clear message to the Government and that message is: take heed, listen to what you are being told, listen to the farmers of Northern Ireland, and across this United Kingdom, change course.”

In London, a similar but much bigger rally is due to be held today, organised by the NFU and beginning at 11am.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “Farmers are cross, they’re worried, they feel they’ve nothing to lose. I don’t know where this ends. I don’t believe the Government have any choice but to rethink this policy.”

Meanwhile there have been protests in France against a trade deal between the EU and much of South America, which farmers fear will lead to a flood of food imports into the country.

They had taken to motorways in their tractors to signal their opposition to the deal, which is opposed – among others – Michel Barnier, the EU’s former chief Brexit negotiator, now the French Prime Minister.