The farmers who marched on Downing Street, in their own words

More than 10,000 people marched on Westminster today in protest over the government's changes to inheritance tax for farmers and landowners.

The move will see farmers pay a 20% tax on inherited agricultural assets worth over £1m from April 2026 onwards, having previously been exempt, which protesters have said will be a "final nail in the coffin" for farmers already dealing with low returns.

TV presenter and Clarkson's Farm star, Jeremy Clarkson, was among the high-profile people at today's rally, where he urged the government to admit the policy was rushed through, and got into a heated exchange with the BBC's Victoria Derbyshire.

Here, farmers at the protest explain to Yahoo News their frustrations.

'If this doesn't work, we'll go full French'

Dan Spours, 50, travelled 400 miles from his farm near the Scottish border in Northumberland to London to protest what he describes as "madness" from Whitehall.

"Food security is the biggest issue – taxation issues as well but the bigger issue is the food and land. This country only looks the way it does because we look after it," he said.

"I think we've been largely left alone because we know what we are doing. But if this gets in, it's going to mean development and the countryside will be ruined.

"I don't think today will have a massive affect, but if we can show the public why we are doing this and keep them onside... If this doesn't work, we'll go full French. We will disrupt."

'We won't be able to hand the farm down'

Helen, a farmer from Buckinghamshire speaking outside the National Farmers' Union conference in Westminster, said she may not be able to pass her farm down to her aspiring 19-year-old son.

"We won't be able to hand the farm down to the new generation. I feel the Treasury and Defra have got their figures wrong and need to look again at things and either overturn it or come up with something more realistic," said Helen, who did not want to give her surname.

"They need to take into consideration means-testing all of the farms. The land alone costs a lot of money. No farmers, no food. If the government don't listen, the next step will be a march and a strike," she said.

"I don't think people fully understand our hours. We don't work nine to five - we work 24/7. But we want to carry on doing it. The government need to realise how important we are. We don't want to be sold out."

'I'm proud of my dad... and now the government has screwed him'

Kate's 81-year-old father, Gordon, worked as a tenant farmer in Berkshire since he was 18 and only managed to buy the farm six months ago.

Now, after six decades of hard work, she says her family are at risk of losing it all. The mother-of-two said: "He has worked so bloody hard and has just bought our farm for our future.

"And now we are faced with losing what he has worked his life for because of inheritance tax... How is that fair? I am proud of my dad and what he has worked for, and now the government has screwed him.

Kate, 39, who did not want to give her surname, suggested if her family had known about the budget six months ago, perhaps they wouldn't have bothered buying the 300-acre farm, adding: "I am facing half a million inheritance tax."

'It is a betrayal'

Dairy farmer Edward Seaton, 47, from Cheshire, said the country's "rural tapestry" will be "ripped out" by the government's changes.

The father-of-three said: "I am a fourth-generation farmer, and our children want to carry it on. It is a betrayal. It's the tapestry of this country. Starmer is affecting a lot more people than he thinks."

'It's the final nail in the coffin'

Kelly Seaton, 34, who also made the journey down from Cheshire, said: "It's the final nail in the coffin. It's not about the inheritance tax, it's about the constant attack on agriculture and its future protection.

"Food has been too cheap for too long because it has been subsidised by the government. Now they are ripping that away as well as whacking the taxes up.

"Who's going to pay for that? It's either going to kill the farms off or they are going to have to raise the price of food. We are here today to make sure the British public carries on being fed."

'Rural communities are being decimated'

Sean McAuley, who travelled to London with his son from Ballymena, Northern Ireland, warned of nationwide food shortages if farmers are not afforded the conditions to continue making a living.

"Government seem to be totally out of touch with what is happening not only in farming but in rural communities. Food security should be at the top of the agenda," said McAuley, 60.

"How can they portray all of the green credentials and then ignore their own farmers and import food from all over the world? Rural communities are being decimated. We are losing a lot of our services in Northern Ireland and it's not acceptable. We could see food shortages if we are not careful."

He said that younger generations are being put off taking over their families' farms as there is no money to be made in the industry and that farmers are in "severe difficulties" regarding cash flow and prices undercutting production costs.

'There's going to be nothing left in the kitty'

Richard Kittle, who runs an arable farm in south Norfolk that his grandfather had passed down after emigrating from Australia during the depression of the 1930s, said the budget was a "big shock".

"Not just the inheritance tax; there were six or seven major hits to farming," the 62-year-old said. He added: We are facing tough times because of other measures, then if anybody has to pay inheritance tax as well, there's going to be nothing left in the kitty."

Read more

• Jeremy Clarkson in tense exchange with BBC's Victoria Derbyshire at inheritance tax protest (Yahoo News)

• ‘People are p—d off’: How retail chiefs turned on Rachel Reeves (The Telegraph)

• Farmers told they are 'wrong' about tax changes as 13,000 attend protest in London (The Herald)

Watch: Rachel Reeves has used a blunderbuss to hit farmers, Jeremy Clarkson says