PM ‘totally disagrees’ with ex-Blair aide’s claim UK does not need small farmers

Sir Keir Starmer has said he totally disagrees with suggestions by one of Tony Blair’s ex-advisers that the Government should do battle with farmers in the way Margaret Thatcher did with striking miners.

Former political adviser John McTernan claimed small family farms were an “industry we could do without” and signalled he was personally in favour of ministers engaging in a confrontation with farmers who plan to protest about changes to inheritance tax (IHT) relief.

The remarks were quickly seized upon by senior Tories, with former home secretary James Cleverly describing Mr McTernan as a Labour insider “saying the quiet bit out loud”.

I totally disagree. I'm absolutely committed to supporting our farmers

But Sir Keir distanced himself from the Blair-era aide’s comments when asked if they reflected his thoughts on farmers.

Speaking to reporters in Baku while attending the Cop29 conference on climate change, the Prime Minister said: “No, I totally disagree.

“I’m absolutely committed to supporting our farmers.

“I said that before the election and I say it after the election.

“That is why, in our Budget… I was very pleased that we are investing £5 billion of our budget over the next two years into farming.

“That is really important for our farmers and I will do everything I can to support them because I think it is important that they not only prosper but prosper well into the future.

“So I totally disagree with those comments.”

Changes to IHT relief announced at the Budget mean farmers will have to pay tax on any property or land they pass on to their descendants worth more than £1 million.

A rate of 20% of anything above this will be charged, which the Treasury has claimed will affect roughly a quarter of farmers.

But the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has warned that plans to roll together allowances for both IHT relief and business property relief could leave far more agricultural businesses exposed to the tax.

The Countryside Land and Business Association meanwhile says some average-sized farms will have to pay more than they make in profits each year to cover the costs of the tax, warning this could lead to land sell-offs.

The NFU is planning a mass lobby event in London on November 19 against the changes, and a splinter protest event is also expected to take place.

Speaking to GB News about the demonstrations, Mr McTernan said: “I am personally in favour if farmers want to go on the streets, we can do what Margaret Thatcher did to the miners.”

He steered away from whether this would mean a heavy-handed policing response, but added: “It is an industry we could do without.”

“If people are so upset that they want to go on the streets and spray slurry on them, then we don’t need the small farmers,” added Mr McTernan, who plays no role in the current Government.

“Labour insider saying the quiet bit out loud!” Tory former minister Mr Cleverly wrote on X, formerly Twitter, as he shared the GB News clip of Mr McTernan.

Rupert Lowe, the Reform UK MP for Great Yarmouth, described the remarks as “offensive, incorrect, deluded”, and said he hoped to see an apology soon.

It is 40 years since the 1984-85 miners’ strike, in which the Thatcher government and the National Union of Miners engaged in a year-long battle over attempts to close collieries up and down the country.

Pit closures and job losses which resulted from the strike continue to have an impact on so-called left behind, formerly industrialised areas of the UK.