STORY: British farmers protest inheritance tax changes
SHOOTING TIME: Nov. 19, 2024
DATELINE: Nov. 20, 2024
LENGTH: 00:01:44
LOCATION: London
CATEGORY: ECONOMY

SHOTLIST:
1. various of British protesters in central London
2. SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ANGELA TURNEY, Farmer
3. SOUNDBITE 2 (English): BEN WILLIAMS, Farmer
4. various of British protesters in central London

STORYLINE:

Thousands of British farmers gathered in central London on Tuesday to protest against inheritance tax changes for farmers.

Farmers from across the country marched from Whitehall to Britain's Parliament in opposition to the reforms. The Metropolitan Police estimated that 13,000 protesters took part.

Inheritance of agricultural assets has been tax-free in the United Kingdom, but the latest government Budget imposes a 20 percent tax. That tax takes effect in April 2026 and only applies to farms worth more than 1 million pounds (about 1.27 million U.S. dollars).

SOUNDBITE 1 (English): ANGELA TURNEY, Farmer
"I want food and food security to be the most important thing that the government should be focusing on, not taxing us for land that we've worked hard for and that we use to farm to produce food. And we need to improve the food security in this country and appreciate the hard work farmers put in to bring food on people's plates three times a day."

SOUNDBITE 2 (English): BEN WILLIAMS, Farmer
"I'm protesting that the tax should be removed. The farmland should be handed down tax free, and we can continue to grow food, keep investing in business, keep investing in our farmland, improving things, improving our sustainability. Because if this tax comes, we have no confidence to improve or invest in our business, and we'll probably just have to end up selling it, and that'll be disastrous for this country."

Xinhua News Agency correspondents reporting from London.
(XHTV)