Dozens of tractors and hundreds of protesters turned central London into a flashpoint for Britain’s “tractor tax” row as Chancellor Rachel Reeves prepared to deliver her Autumn Budget.
- Farmers drove tractors into Westminster and Whitehall on Wednesday morning in defiance of a Metropolitan Police ban on agricultural vehicles near Parliament. [1]
- The Met had imposed last‑minute conditions restricting the protest to a small pen on Richmond Terrace and prohibiting tractors, prompting organisers to declare the official rally cancelled. [2]
- Several farmers were arrested for refusing to comply with the vehicle ban, as officers moved tractors away from Whitehall, Trafalgar Square and surrounding streets. [3]
- Protesters are targeting Labour’s inheritance tax reforms, which would cap agricultural property relief at £1m and apply a reduced inheritance tax charge – effectively 20% above that threshold – from April 2026. [4]
- The showdown is the latest in a year‑long series of “tractor tax” protests and comes just hours before Reeves unveils a Budget built around what she calls “fair and necessary choices”. [5]
Tractors roll into Westminster despite Met ban
From early morning, the sound of tractor horns echoed around Westminster as convoys of farm vehicles edged into central London, despite clear warnings from the Metropolitan Police that agricultural machinery was not allowed anywhere near the official protest zone. [6]
Images showed tractors parked near Parliament and Whitehall carrying angry slogans aimed at Labour. One machine on Abingdon Street displayed the message “Fools vote Labour”, while another, decorated as “Farmer Christmas” with a large spruce tree, listed senior Labour figures and the BBC on its “naughty list” before being moved on by officers. [7]
Police said around 20 tractors were stopped or turned back around Westminster, but they could not prevent others appearing in unexpected corners of the city. Tractors were spotted inching through areas around King’s Cross, looping past Trafalgar Square and lining up on approach roads as drivers tried to find a route toward the political heart of London. [8]
Alongside the vehicles, hundreds of farmers and supporters arrived on foot, turning Whitehall into a dense corridor of union flags, homemade banners and branded farm jackets. Many said they had travelled through the night from counties including Devon, Berkshire and Staffordshire to make their anger visible on Budget Day. [9]
A protest “cancelled” that went ahead anyway
Wednesday’s scenes followed 24 hours of escalating tension between protest organisers and the Met. Farmers had planned a high‑profile tractor rally in Whitehall timed to coincide with Reeves’s Autumn Budget – complete with loudspeakers and the now‑familiar soundtrack of children’s songs blaring from tractor sound systems. Organisers expected hundreds of tractors, with some estimates running to as many as 1,500–2,000 heading for the capital. [10]
According to documents seen by industry title Farmers Weekly, the Met withdrew consent for the original assembly and imposed tougher conditions, citing fears the rally “may result in serious disruption to the life of the community”. The revised order confined the protest to an 850m² area on Richmond Terrace, across from Downing Street, and explicitly banned all motor vehicles, including tractors and other agricultural machinery. [11]
The Berkshire Farmers group, which has been coordinating much of the campaign, said it was informed of the change at around 3pm on Tuesday – only hours before many convoys were due to set off – and accused the Met of an “appalling” approach to protest rights. With no time to redesign the event, organisers announced that the official tractor rally had been cancelled and publicly distanced themselves from any farmers who still chose to travel. [12]
In practice, many farmers were already on the road or determined to go anyway. Some told agricultural broadcasters and reporters that they never saw the cancellation message in time; others argued that the right to protest trumped the late‑night ban on vehicles. Tractors that were stopped on approach roads often continued slowly toward the city, crawling through traffic while their drivers negotiated with officers by the roadside. [13]
Arrests, handcuffs and claims of “two‑tier policing”
The Met confirmed that several arrests were made on Wednesday morning for “refusal to comply with the conditions” attached to the protest, specifically attempts to bring tractors or other agricultural vehicles into the controlled area around Westminster. Most drivers, the force said, either turned back or parked well away from Parliament when asked. [14]
Footage and eyewitness reports from Whitehall showed officers surrounding tractors that had made it into central London, with at least one farmer handcuffed and led away after declining to move his vehicle. In another case, a driver who became the first to reach Whitehall was reportedly told he could stay at the rally on foot but would see his tractor impounded if it remained in place. [15]
For many protesters, the scenes crystallised a wider sense of injustice. Farmers interviewed by specialist outlets accused the Met of “two‑tier policing”, arguing that their carefully planned, family‑friendly tractor protests were being treated more harshly than other marches that had previously brought central London to a standstill. They also complained that after months of cooperating with officers, their arrangements had been torn up at the last minute under political pressure. [16]
Shadow farming minister Robbie Moore, who joined farmers in Whitehall, condemned the crackdown as “absolutely outrageous”. He said there was “a huge amount of anger, frustration and anxiety” in rural communities over what campaigners now routinely call the “family farm tax”, and urged the Chancellor to recognise the “catastrophic consequences” the policy could have if she refused to change course. [17]
What the Met Police say
Senior officers insist they have not banned the farmers’ protest itself, only the use of tractors and other vehicles in central London. In statements published on Tuesday evening and in running updates on Wednesday, the Met stressed that people were still welcome to demonstrate but that conditions had been imposed to prevent serious disruption to businesses, emergency services and “Londoners going about their day”. [18]
Under the order, anyone taking part in the event must remain within a designated area on Richmond Terrace, just off Whitehall. Protesters who arrive on foot are allowed to gather there, with police liaising with stewards to manage crowd numbers, banners and sound systems. Heavy machinery, however, is to be kept out of the narrow streets around Parliament and Downing Street altogether. [19]
The force argues that allowing convoys of slow‑moving tractors into Westminster brings specific safety risks, from blocking ambulance routes and bus corridors to trapping crowds in tight spaces. Officers point out that previous tractor protests have already shown how quickly traffic can grind to a halt when large farm vehicles gather outside Parliament and say their priority is to balance protest rights with broader public safety. [20]
Why farmers are on the streets: inheritance tax and the “tractor tax”
Behind the immediate dispute over vehicle bans lies a much bigger argument about inheritance tax, land values and the future of family farming.
In last year’s Autumn Budget, Reeves announced sweeping changes to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief, which for decades have allowed most working farms to be passed between generations with little or no inheritance tax bill. [21]
Under the reforms, APR would be capped at £1m of qualifying agricultural assets. Above that threshold, the value of farmland and farm businesses would face a new inheritance tax charge at a reduced rate – effectively 20%, half the standard 40% IHT rate – payable over up to ten years when the rules come into force in April 2026. Farming and tax specialists say the change substantially increases the potential liability on larger family farms, especially in regions where land prices have soared. [22]
Ministers frame the move as a question of fairness, arguing that very high‑value estates should contribute more to public finances while smaller holdings remain protected. But farmers counter that the policy misunderstands their economics: many are “asset rich and cash poor”, with land and buildings pushing them over the threshold even though day‑to‑day margins remain tight. To pay a significant tax bill, they warn, heirs may have little choice but to sell fields, livestock or equipment – potentially breaking up viable farms that have been built up over generations. [23]
Industry groups and rural campaigners fear a wave of forced sales could accelerate the consolidation of farmland into smaller numbers of corporate or investor‑owned operations, reduce local employment and weaken domestic food security. Contractors, feed merchants and other small businesses that rely on family farms for income could also be hit if holdings are fragmented or sold off to non‑farming buyers. [24]
A year of tractor protests comes to a head
Wednesday’s Westminster demonstration is the latest – and among the most high‑profile – in a rolling series of farmer protests that began in late 2024 after the inheritance tax plans were first unveiled. Over the past year, farmers have organised go‑slow convoys on rural roads, mass tractor parades through market towns and previous rallies on Parliament Square and Whitehall. [25]
Last December, thousands of farmers drove tractors down Whitehall to denounce what they dubbed the “tractor tax”, warning that the reforms would undermine food security and force family businesses to close or shrink. Similar actions have taken place across England and Wales in recent months, including large‑scale rallies in Suffolk and a “Day of Unity” of coordinated tractor runs and go‑slows earlier this week. [26]
Campaign groups, including newly formed “fair family farming” alliances, say they will keep up pressure on MPs of all parties until the government offers meaningful concessions – from raising the APR cap, to exempting certain categories of working land, to scrapping the reforms entirely.
Budget Day test for Labour’s rural strategy
All of this forms a noisy backdrop to Reeves’s second Budget, which she will present to MPs at around 12.30pm. The Chancellor has trailed the statement as a chance to make “fair and necessary choices” to repair the public finances after years of economic shocks, while the Prime Minister has described it as a moment to choose “renewal” over decline. [27]
For farmers gathered outside, the fairness test looks very different. Many say today is the last realistic opportunity for the government to revisit the inheritance tax reforms before families commit to long‑term succession and investment plans. If the Budget confirms the current APR cap and tax rate, advisers expect a rush of restructuring – from transferring assets into trusts, to diversifying into non‑farmed uses, to partial land sales – all of which could permanently alter the shape of the countryside. [28]
Legal experts contacted by farming outlets report a marked rise in enquiries from landowners seeking urgent estate‑planning advice ahead of the April 2026 start date. They warn that, without clearer guidance or last‑minute easements, families may take drastic steps simply to create certainty – even if future governments later soften the policy. [29]
For now, the tractors inching around Westminster carry a straightforward message: scrap or dilute the “family farm tax”, protect the ability to pass working farms to the next generation and stop treating rural communities as collateral damage in the hunt for revenue. Whether Reeves responds with compromise, minor tweaks or firm resolve will determine if today’s demonstration marks the beginning of a climbdown – or the start of an even more confrontational phase in Britain’s long‑running “tractor tax” revolt. [30]
References
1. news.sky.com, 2. www.fwi.co.uk, 3. www.farmersguardian.com, 4. www.itv.com, 5. en.wikipedia.org, 6. news.sky.com, 7. news.sky.com, 8. www.farminguk.com, 9. www.fwi.co.uk, 10. www.fwi.co.uk, 11. www.fwi.co.uk, 12. www.fwi.co.uk, 13. www.farminguk.com, 14. www.farmersguardian.com, 15. www.farmersguide.co.uk, 16. www.fwi.co.uk, 17. www.farmersguardian.com, 18. www.farminguk.com, 19. www.fwi.co.uk, 20. www.farminguk.com, 21. www.fwi.co.uk, 22. www.itv.com, 23. en.wikipedia.org, 24. www.fwi.co.uk, 25. en.wikipedia.org, 26. www.farmersguide.co.uk, 27. www.independent.co.uk, 28. www.farminguk.com, 29. www.farminguk.com, 30. www.farmersguardian.com
