Farmers from across our region joined thousands of others attending the headline-grabbing mass lobby and the concurrent and separately organised rally as they crammed onto buses and trains in freezing weather to show the strength of feeling to budget plans to change inheritance tax and business property relief rules for farms.
NFU Midlands Regional Board chair, Jane Bassett, said:
“Midlands farmers, as usual, battled the weather to attend. Nothing was going to stop them having this opportunity to have a voice for their own family farms.
“There was a very large contingent of members who queued in some cases for well over an hour to tell their own stories with passion to their MPs. Non-farmers in the queues were astounded how we were able to garner support so quickly. Many joined the rally also to feel that they had stood up proudly for their own farms.
“Nothing was going to stop them having this opportunity to have a voice for their own family farms.”
NFU Midlands Regional Board chair, Jane Bassett
“We came together as an industry with a collective passion that was quite something to witness and we should all be proud of our involvement that day in whatever way.
“The work carries on with this as we will not stop until the family farm tax is overturned and we will be looking for yet again for members’ support.
“Thanks also to the staff for arranging this under very difficult circumstances.”
‘You really pulled out all the stops’
NFU Midlands regional director, Rob Newbery, said: “I want to say how proud I am of the members from across the Midlands region who showed up in force.
“Our region conducted well over 70 MP meetings during the day. We were in Church House, Portcullis House, the Palace of Westminster, offices and coffee shops.
“The lobbying was firm, concise and articulate - you made your point and you conveyed the necessary emotion. So thank you, you really pulled out the stops.
“We cannot stop fighting these changes to inheritance tax and I’m glad we’ve got members like you with us to take on this important piece of work.”