Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of being “completely disconnected” from Britons as thousands of disgruntled farmers descended on Westminster in mass protest.
Following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s decision to raid inheritance tax for agricultural workers, members of the National Farmers’ Union marched through the capital to express their disgust at the policy.
Hitting out at Labour, political commentator Charlie Downes accused the Prime Minister of “hacking away” at the “bones of Britain”, this time taking aim at the agricultural industry.
Downes told GB News: “If you look at the groups and institutions that this government has taken aim at over the few months that it’s been in power, who’s it been? It’s been pensioners, it’s been pubs and now it’s farmers.
Charlie Downes hit out at Keir Starmer for being ‘disconnected’ with Britain
GB News / PA
“This is the lifeblood, the guts, the bones of Britain that they are hacking away at here.”
Reacting to the scale of the protest, Downes claimed that the demonstration was comparable to “something from a historical drama”.
Downes explained: “What we’ve seen today, these scenes out of London, especially with Jeremy Clarkson delivering that quite rousing speech, it’s like something out of some sort of historical drama.
“Then you have, on the other hand, this cold, unfeeling figure of Keir Starmer just ploughing on ahead with his plans, completely disconnected from the public in general and seemingly unwilling to compromise on any of his highly destructive policies.”
When asked by host Michelle Dewberry if he believes Starmer should “compromise” on the plan to make the relief fair for farmers, Downes argued that the policy should be “walked back entirely”.
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Downes told GB News: “I think he should walk the whole thing back entirely. We’ve seen that they are prepared to go back on certain policies, like for example, the smoking ban in pubs.
“But this to me, this particular issue with the farmers, seems to be far more fundamental in a way that I don’t think many people are talking about.”
Offering further criticism of the Labour Party, Downes claimed that Starmer is seeking to “transform” Britain into nothing more than an “economic zone”.
Downes said: “You look at the priorities of this government, and it does seem to be to transform the United Kingdom even further than it already has been into just an economic zone, without much in the way of culture or a sense of home or a sense of belonging.”
Charlie Downes said Labour should ‘walk back completely’ on the policy
GB News
When asked for his verdict on the inheritance tax raid, commentator Matthew Laza was doubtful that the Labour Government would U-turn on their decision.
Laza explained: “I don’t think they will go back on it, and I don’t think they should go back on it in its entirety. I think what they need to do is make sure in the detail that it really does only affect a handful of very large farms.
“The £1million thing is slightly misleading, because if most people are leaving a family farm, they will leave the two parents leaving to their children £1million each, plus £1million allowance for the farmhouse, so a lot more than 500 farms are worth more than £1million.”
He added: “What they need to do is to make sure that they do hit this 500. They’re going to have to be pretty generous in that when they actually publish that detail. Otherwise, they’re going to have egg on their face, because they’re going to be affecting more than 500 farms.”
