Labour’s farming minister was marooned in a taxi when angry protesters blocked his car from leaving a meeting. Daniel Zeichner was forced to sit in the vehicle when dozens of farmers prevented his exit from a car park on Thursday.
Footage posted online of the Farmers to Action protest against Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tax showed the minister sitting in the car helplessly. He was meeting food producers at Tavistock’s Bedford Hotel to discuss “the future of Dartmoor farming”.
In a post online, the protest group said it wanted to discuss the impact of the Government’s policies with Mr Zeichner.
It added: “It doesn’t seem like they want to listen. Our farmers will not back down. Abolish inheritance tax for all.”
It is understood that Mr Zeichner did not get out of the car to engage with farmers outside the event. Police had to get involved to ensure the minister and his team could safely leave the mass demonstration.
A spokesman for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs said: “Both the Secretary of State and farming minister were out meeting farmers today.
“We have always engaged with farmers and never shied away from difficult conversations. This will continue as long as we are in government.”
Mr Zeichner previously sparked fury after it was claimed he told a rural conference that farmers are “not high on the pecking order” of the Government.
He has engaged with the farming industry more than 70 times since July last year, it is understood.
The minister has met with at least one member of the farming community almost every week since coming into office last year.
Protests across the country have erupted because of Rachel Reeves’s October Budget.
From April 2026, combined agricultural and business property assets up to £1million will still receive 100% relief but anything above that will be taxed at an effective rate of 20%.
Asset-rich farmers who are cash-poor fear they will have to sell off their land, making it unviable for food production, to foot the tax bill.
The Daily Express’s Save Britain’s Family Farms crusade has demanded a U-turn.
