There was a daunting display of political power outside Lisburn on Monday night. Thousands of farmers gathered in a convention centre for a rally against new inheritance tax rules, introduced by the UK government in last month’s Westminster budget. Leading figures from Northern Ireland’s six main political parties, including the First Minister and Deputy First Minister, spoke from the podium to offer their full support. Their obeisance to a small but potent sectoral interest makes it almost impossible to imagine Stormont confronting the challenges it faces with agriculture.
The Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU) organised the rally in co-ordinated action with its counterparts in Britain. Members attended a national protest in London the following day. They have a legitimate grievance: the new rules bring perhaps a quarter of farms back within inheritance tax, after three decades of being fully exempt. Bills for most would still be small and payable in 10 annual interest-free instalments, but farmers can be asset-rich and income poor. The tax can be avoided altogether by gifting a farm seven years before death or transferring it to a trust. However, unexpected deaths might compound family tragedy with break-up of the family farm.
The UK government says its target is not farmers at all, but wealthy individuals who bought farmland to exploit the inheritance tax exemption. In that case, the tax-free allowance could be raised from its new maximum of £3 million to £5 million, for example, still targeting large landowners while taking almost every family farm out of the net.
Farmers in Northern Ireland have unique grounds for a higher allowance. Most own their land, unlike in England, where nearly half are tenants. The market value of farmland in the North is double the UK average.
But the case for a reasonable adjustment has been drowned out by hysterical claims from farmers that their industry and way of life will be destroyed, along with the UK’s food security. None of this happened when the same tax was in place before 1992.
Some farmers have threatened to escalate protests to include blocking roads and withholding supplies from supermarkets. The prospect of convoys of agricultural vehicles bringing the UK to a standstill recalls the 2000 fuel protests by lorry drivers, a “yellow-vest” movement before the French coined the term. British governments remain haunted by this event; fuel duty has scarcely risen since. But farmers cannot count on the same degree of public sympathy. Although they may be seen as hardworking and vital producers, they are also regarded as well-off and given to special pleading. In addition, in Northern Ireland, they are increasingly considered a menace to the environment. The crisis in Lough Neagh has crystallised this perception, adding noticeable scepticism and impatience towards farmers’ concerns.
Thanks to lobbying by the UFU and others, the DUP has long vetoed the establishment of an independent environmental protection agency – Northern Ireland is the only part of the UK and Ireland to lack this standard protection.
In 2022, further lobbying by the UFU persuaded a DUP minister to cap fines for repeated pollution offences at 15 per cent of a farm’s subsidy, down from 100 per cent.
The power of the farming lobby surpasses mere elected politicians. During the collapse of Stormont in 2017, the UFU somehow managed to extract a memorandum from civil servants promising no unannounced farm inspections and a presumption against prosecution for pollution offences.
Stormont combines the agriculture and environment portfolios in one poacher-and-gamekeeper department. Its latest minister, Alliance’s Andrew Muir, has been carefully building up legal and institutional capacity to tighten regulation. Yet he spoke at the Lisburn rally and could hardly have done otherwise. Even the canniest gamekeeper can be ensnared.
Brexit adds another complication to views on farming in Northern Ireland. Farmers are widely believed to have supported Brexit, casting doubt on their judgment; the UFU stayed neutral in the referendum to avoid contention among its members.
Many people are perplexed that farmers were hostile to the EU, as it provided 90 per cent of their income, but it makes sense in terms of the psychology of dependency. Farmers cannot be expected to feel gratitude for a life on benefits. They are more likely to feel demeaned, demoralised, resentful of a controlling bureaucracy, and to be painfully aware of the judgment of others. This could explain their exaggerated sense of anger and entitlement, and the conspiratorial thinking already surrounding the protests about how the government wants to destroy family farms.
In last month’s budget it was separately revealed that farm subsidies will be fully devolved to Northern Ireland from next April. Stormont could replace the current flat-rate grant per hectare with a new regime that encourages partnership on the environment and reduces the culture of dependency.
But farmers would complain. So it will never happen.