FARMERS are getting a hard time from ministers because they do not vote Labour, it was suggested yesterday.
The inheritance tax row turned nasty as insiders aimed swipes at the 20,000 who protested this week in Westminster.
In anonymous briefings, one Labour MP told a journalist: “These people don’t vote for us anyway.” Another made a dig about farmers bringing “photogenic” toddlers on tractors to Tuesday’s demo.
Downing Street yesterday distanced Sir Keir Starmer from the sniping, stressing the PM’s respect for the industry.
But deputy leader Angela Rayner accused critics of scaremongering over how many farms would be hit by the 20 per cent levy on holdings valued above £1million.
Standing in for Sir Keir at Prime Minister’s Questions, she insisted: “Our plan is sensible, fair and proportionate and protects the smaller estates while fixing public services that they rely on.”
But Shadow Northern Ireland Secretary Alex Burghart, standing in for Tory leader Kemi Badenoch, reckoned: “The truth is that this is a punishment meted out to people who don’t vote Labour.
“It is the same meted out to parents who send their children to private schools.
“It is the same meted out to the owners of small businesses terrified about National Insurance contributions.”
Meanwhile the Lib Dems, whose leader Sir Ed Davey backed the demo, are accused of plotting a similar tax raid.
Documents from 2013 show they proposed changing inheritance levies on income and land to ensure “everyone pays their fair share”.
But the party insisted yesterday: “This is utter nonsense — we are opposed to the family farm tax and always have been.”
