A basket of pre-loved farm toys has been handed over to the Treasury by three generations of a farming family with a heartfelt message to the Chancellor – that the unjust family farm tax will deny the children of Britain’s farming families a future in the industry.

Farming families from across the country have donated thousands of toys for a display outside NFU Conference today, each with their own message to Rachel Reeves about what the changes to inheritance tax will mean for their children’s futures.

The basket of toys, a symbolic gesture representing a farm and a future generation that could be lost, was delivered by Hazel and Tom Church, their 5-year-old son Bertie, together with Hazel’s father, 66-year-old Martin Towler, who run a 210-acre livestock farm and tenant a further 400 acres. They could be hit with a huge inheritance tax bill if the policy goes ahead.

Hazel Church said: “The family farm tax is a real worry for us. We’re just a small family farm in Bedfordshire and we know the changes to inheritance tax will hugely affect us. We could be facing a bill of about £400,000. That is an awful lot of money, more than our annual profit for 10 years, money which then can’t be reinvested back into the business to make it more resilient for the future. We also can’t gift it as this would trigger Capital Gains Tax (CGT) due to the debt within the business."

“I’d love to meet Rachel Reeves and explain how this will impact us as a small family farm. I worry, as an urban MP, that she may not know farmers or understand farming. I respect her for that as it can be a complex business to get your head around. But the key point is farmers don’t get money when they inherit, they get the farm, the business asset, and often the debt."

“I’d be keen to bring her to our farm, show her what we do and sit down with her and the NFU and talk about how we try to make it profitable and viable, which is already extremely difficult and going to become even more difficult. My main concern is for the future. There may be no farm left at this rate for my son, who wants to be a farmer. We’re not alone either. There are thousands of farming families who will be in this position.”

NFU President Tom Bradshaw added: “I thank the Church family for coming to London today to help us demonstrate to the Chancellor what is at stake by this disastrous family farm tax."

“We can’t ignore the symbolic donation of pre-loved farm toys being delivered to Rachel Reeves, or the huge collection on display donated by farmers from all over the UK which all represent a farm that could be lost, and the generation which could lose it. Each toy represents a child who, until this family farm tax was announced, planned a future as one of the nation’s food producers. That future now hangs in the balance."

“Our message is very clear. We will keep fighting this battle until the government starts to listen, considers our alternative proposals and ultimately takes action.”