Labour minister torn apart by furious farmer over tax grab: 'Why are you not listening?!'

The Environment Secretary was torn apart on LBC this morning by a furious farmer as he called out the top minister's pre-election pledge to 'listen to farmers'. Steve Reed took to the air but was condemned by a farmer just minutes into the broadcast over Rachel Reeves' family farms tax.

David from Maidstone in Kent called in to blast the Environment Secretary, pointing out that at an NFU conference Labour promised to "listen to farmers - to heed early warnings and show ambition in tackling the challenges that they face. So why did you out of hand reject the NFU and [Country Land and Business Association]'s proposal on inheritance tax? A plan specifically designed to protect family farms while increasing the tax take on your behalf, and raise more money than the government's current model. Where is the evidence that your policy will do better, and if you promised to listen why did you not?"

Farming bodies have pleaded with the Treasury to switch from the current catch-all family farms tax to a so-called 'clawback scheme', which would apply inheritance tax on a farm only if the inheritors sell the asset following the farmer's death.

Mr Reed replied he recognises that the tax hike, which has sparked mass protests up and down the country, has "been a contentious issue".

He repeated the claim of a £22 billion black hole that Rachel Reeves had to fill after winning the election, "so we had to make some changes to taxation in order to fund the investment we put into the NHS that has seen waiting lists fall now for six months in a row."

The senior minister insisted that the majority of farmers will not have to pay the inheritance tax, adding: "I think it's still a good deal".

An astonished Nick Ferrari incredulously asked: "You think this is a good deal?"

Mr Reed replied: "I think compared to other businesses. They pay half the rate of other businesses and don't have to pay it all in one go."

"When I'm talking to farmers and when I'm visiting farms, what I see is people that work all the hours that god sends, from dawn until dusk and beyond, often six or seven days a week, but they don't make any money.

"So what I've done is I've brought in the NFU's former president Minette Batters to work with me on boosting farm profitability, that is very important."

Asked by Mr Ferrari what he thought of Mr Reed's answer, the caller blasted that the minister's claims "are just not the case!"

"DEFRA's figures don't agree with the Treasury's figures. The Treasury's figures said something like 20,000 farms will be affected, DEFRA's figures show 70,000 farms will be affected.

"The problem with this is it's designed to hit people investing in land and not farm the land. But the family farms who have farmed for generations now earn their living out of the land, and the value of the land they work on is irrelevant to what they do for a living.

"And the margins they've been working on now have been squeezed and squeezed and squeezed because we have no current food policy in this country."

Yesterday it was revealed that Labour's family farms tax will cost the Treasury almost £2 billion, rather than the claim by Ms Reeves it could raise £1.8 billion.

Family businesses slashing investment and jobs will lead to a slowdown in the economy, the research by independent consultants at CBI Economics showed.