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Farmers hold tax protest outside BBC building

BBC Farmers stand near tractors parked on a pavement outside a glass-fronted buildingBBC
About 40 farm vehicles were parked outside the BBC in Southampton

Farmers have parked tractors outside a BBC building in a protest over changes to inheritance tax.

About 40 vehicles converged on the centre in Havelock Road, Southampton, at midday, leaving two hours later.

Organisers said the government's decision in October 2024 to limit tax relief for farms to £1m had not been sufficiently covered by the BBC and other media.

A spokesperson from the BBC said the corporation has "a broad range of farming and rural affairs programming".

Mark stands next to a tractor giving a TV interview. He has curly, white hair with sunglasses over his head and wears a checked shirt.
Mark, who farms near Bishop's Waltham, said the inheritance tax issue had not been sufficiently reported

A farmer from Bishop's Waltham, who gave his name as Mark, said the tax hike would mean the "end of the family farm".

He said: "You won't be able to keep going. The inheritance charge will be so high.

"The politicians brush it under the carpet. And we don't feel we get that much coverage on the BBC et cetera either.

"The Archers - it's taken them forever to mention the fact about the Inheritance Tax.

"Fifteen hundred tractors went to London and in some parts of the press there was very little mention of that."

The changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) are due to come into effect in April 2026.

Previously, the government said the reform would only affect the wealthiest 500 estates each year with smaller farms not affected.

It said the millions of pounds in APR claimed each year by a small number of estates could be better used to fund public services.

A spokesperson for the BBC said: "BBC News has a dedicated rural affairs correspondent and producer to report on issues which affect farmers' lives and livelihoods across the UK.

"Further to this we have an Executive Editor [that] co-chairs the BBC's Rural Advisory Committee which includes rural stakeholders and shares insight from across farming communities."

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