Wednesday, April 2, 2025

The Independent has keenly covered the upset of farmers warning that Labour's inheritance tax shakeup - dubbed the tractor tax - will destroy a generation of family farms. 

But the sector has been under pressure for years, and has far bigger worries than farmers being forced to pay relatively modest amounts of inheritance tax for the first time. 

Nigel Farage's recent declaration Britain should be open to chlorine-washed American chicken and hormone-fed beef sparked fury in the industry. 

And Kemi Badenoch added to their fears on Tuesday, saying fears about US agricultural standards are based on "a myth". 

The two are vying to replace Sir Keir Starmer as prime minister, and could well topple Labour through some form of electoral non-aggression pact. 

Their stances on chlorinated chicken serve as a stark reminder that Brexit has been no friend to farmers, and has instead left them hanging in the balance of any free trade deal.  

Written by Archie Mitchell

The Brexit Headlines 

Farmers furious as Farage admits he would allow chlorine-washed chicken to be sold in UK

Farage's remarks sparked anger from campaigners, who warned the British public is 'appalled by chlorinated chicken'

Starmer dodges fishing rights issue amid reports over UK-EU defence pact

A senior European politician suggested member countries may try to tie other agreements to co-operation over defence

Post-Brexit rules makes buying plants 'impossible' in Northern Ireland, MPs say

Debate hears one garden centre finds it easier to import plants from Japan than Scotland due to Windsor Framework protocol

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TUV MP Jim Allister speaking in a Commons debate

"The whole point of Brexit, we were told, was that we could be master in our own house and make our own regulations, but now we will simply reregulate back into line with the EU. That is a very retrograde step"

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