Our collective task on 19 November, although substantial, is straightforward.
Farmer and grower members of the NFU are coming to London to meet with their MPs to bring to life the impacts of this policy change on their farms, on British farming and on food supply, and to urge them to ask the Chancellor to reconsider these measures.
- A must-read for members attending the NFU's mass lobby event – Timings and logistics.
Update: 11 November
There is now a second complementary event in London on 19 November, which is organised by a group of farmers. We support members and farmers if they wish to attend this rally but the NFU is not responsible for organising it.
We continue to urge members to get in front of their MP, look them in the eyes and tell them from the heart how the changes to the APR will affect farming and growing businesses.
“Please don't miss the opportunity to engage with your MP, because they are the ones that ultimately have to get the government to take a different stance on this. You can do both events. We're working in a coordinated fashion and I really look forward to seeing you on the 19 November.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
We will continue to update Preparing for the day with the latest logistical news.
Since the Autumn Budget was announced, the NFU has been working flat-out to make the case to Treasury and wider government that the decision it has made to change Agriculture Property Relief and Business Property Relief must be over-turned, and to corral public and media support for farmers.
We believe the Treasury has built this policy on the wrong data and the changes it proposes will not deliver what it wants to achieve. It will not protect family farms, it will destroy them.
The shock and anger among members has been acute. And it’s been heard.
Within just four days of being launched, our campaign to Stop the Family Farm tax has secured the support of more than 160,000 people, and millions more are expressing their concern across social media.
The family farm tax must be overturned.
Show your support and call for the government to overturn the family farm tax.
In the media there have been more than 2,500 stories across national and regional press.
Broadcasters have carried the story strongly.
Behind the scenes, we’ve represented members’ shock, anger and fear to ministers, along with the evidence of why this policy doesn’t work. Be in no doubt that ministers and MPs know how furious and betrayed people feel.
How we got here
In the days before the budget we began to hear APR might be on the agenda, despite clear promises that it wouldn’t be. The NFU responded at speed, with members writing more than 3,600 letters to MPs, a social media campaign landing well and our case being laid before the Chancellor and the Prime Minister.
We also had to quickly plan for the worst. We began building plans for a mass lobby for 19 November, bringing members to London for meetings with their MPs, so that the government would be pressured by its own back benchers, and NFU Council agreed this was the way forward in an emergency meeting the morning after the Budget.
Through this first event post-Budget it’s vital that we leave MPs in no doubt that their constituents, their voters, won’t accept this and will hold them responsible. There must be a political price to pay for this decision. This mass lobby is about landing that message as we work to have this decision reversed.
Get involved
The mass lobby is taking place on 19 November at Church House Westminster. All members will have received an email since 31 October inviting those wishing to attend to register their interest.
Demand for this event has been amazing, with 1,800 NFU members registering their intention to come.
We’ve tripled our capacity in Church House from the original 600 (which is what the venue holds) to 1,800, via three rotations of 600, to ensure we can accommodate as many members as possible to the mass lobby – but we can’t make it any larger. But far more than 1,800 NFU members want their voice to be heard, and rightly. The level of anger in the industry may never have been so high.
If members haven't registered already, we're asking that they don't do so now.
While our mass lobby event is at capacity, we want this to be the first event, not the only event, where you can be heard.
Can I attend if I haven't registered?
If you’re not registered on the event, please don’t travel to London. There’s another opportunity to make clear how you feel.
There are legal issues which mean we can’t simply turn up in numbers in Westminster on the streets, or the open spaces. We cannot risk either member or public safety, or the loss of public support, that could come from what could be an illegal demonstration.
Preparing for the day
To get the most out of the day, it’s really important to get a meeting with your MP.
A must-read for members attending the NFU's mass lobby event – Timings and logistics.
If you have received an invitation to attend the mass lobby, you can use our campaigns tool to request a meeting with your MP to ask them for their support.
NFU members: Please send details of your MP meeting to your regional office before 19 November.
- Midlands regional office: 02476 939402/ [email protected]
- East regional office: 02476 939403/ [email protected]
- South regional office: 02476 939404/ [email protected]
- North regional office: 02476 939401/ [email protected]
- NFU Cymru: 0370 845 8458/ [email protected]
We will continue to update this page with details on logistics for the day.
Next steps
We’ve always said this event was just the start of this fight. If the government listens to us, before or after 19 November, we’ll all be relieved, but if it doesn’t, this event will be followed by another, at which farmers and growers will demonstrate how we feel about this devastating policy.
If we need it, that will be our show of mass unity and strength.
If government continues to refuse to listen, this will be step two.
Ministers need to understand that we won’t get tired, that we won’t go away, that this campaign will go on for as long as this terrible decision stands.
If they think we’ll give up, it just shows how much they don’t understand farmers.
Our message to you
The message to you is threefold.
First, thank you. Thank you for your passion, your support for your fellow farmers.
Second, if you’re not registered for the mass lobby, please don’t think you have lost your chance to have your voice heard. If we don’t get the Family Farm Tax scrapped before it, we need you to be ready to march. That is our moment to rally.
Between now and then you can really help by asking to meet your own MP and telling them what the IHT policy means for you, your family, your farm and your future. We must keep the pressure up.
And finally, we hope every day that the government does the right thing, but our message to them is we’re in the long fight. This tax cannot stand; for your sake, for your family’s sake, for farming’s sake and for Britain’s sake.
What is a mass lobby?
A mass lobby is when a large number of people, typically members of a large national organisation like the NFU, contact their MPs and members of the Lords in advance and arrange to meet with them at Parliament all on the same day to deploy the same set of messages.
Before you go to the meeting make sure that you’ve had a briefing from the NFU, to ensure that the MPs from Cornwall to Cumbria get the same messages from their farmer and grower constituents.
Mass lobbies have been used by the NFU throughout its 116-year history, especially where large numbers of our members are seeking change or campaigning against a policy which will damage their businesses or the nation’s food supply.
Mass lobbies are clearly targeted at parliamentarians who we are asking to influence decision makers, in this case the Chancellor of the Exchequer.
The mass lobby on 19 November will highlight the poorly thought-through changes to IHT (Inheritance Tax) and follows a similar pattern to those we have run previously, with a large in-person briefing followed by parliamentary meetings.
