Sir Keir Starmer has doubled down on its assertion that “the vast majority of farms and farmers” will not be affected by modification of inheritance tax announced in the Budget in front of a big demonstration on the tax hike Tuesday.

The row has been going on since the budget, when it was announced that farmers will have to pay 20 percent of the tax on inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1 million from April 2026.

Critics warn that the new tax grab will destroy family farmswhich represent around two thirds of the UK agricultural base.

The prime minister has tried to persuade farmers that the sector is a priority for the government, telling reporters on Sunday that the money the Treasury has invested in agriculture “should not be neglected”.

His latest comments come as farmers prepare to hold a major protest in London on Tuesday. Separately, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) will organize a massive lobby of MPs to try to persuade the government to rethink its plans.

Speaking to reporters en route to the G20 summit in Brazil, the prime minister said “it’s very important that we support farmers” but insisted he was “confident” that most will not be affected by the changes.

Asked if he accepted that farmers felt betrayed, Sir Keir said: “I think it’s very important that we support farmers. That’s why we’ve committed £5 billion to the agriculture budget over the next two years.

“This should not be neglected,” he said, and he also pointed to other liquidity that has been set aside to deal with floods and epidemics.

He added: “Clearly there is an issue around inheritance tax and I understand that concern.

“But for a typical case, that of parents owning a farm which they wish to pass on to one of their children, when you have taken into account not only the exemption for the agricultural goods themselves, but also the he exemption for joint spouse, then parent to child, is £3 million before any inheritance tax is payable.

“That is why I am absolutely convinced that the vast majority of farms and farmers will not be affected by this situation.”

Protest organizers had to move the event to Westminster because Trafalgar Square is not big enough to hold the protesters. number of people planning to attend, The Independent revealed last week.

The demonstration, which is to take place on November 19, should now far exceed the 5,000 to 10,000 people initially estimated by the Farming Forum which organizes it.

Participants were asked to start gathering at Richmond Terrace, near Victoria Embankment Gardens, from 11am.

The march will be led by farmers’ children on toy tractors “signifying the impact of the devastating budget on the future of farming and the countryside”, organizers say.

Protesters are expected to be joined by celebrities, including Jeremy Clarkson, and politicians who will give speeches outside Downing Street. They will also be addressed by NFU president Tom Bradshaw, who has been extremely critical of the government’s announcement.

The row over the tax was fueled by Labor leader John McTernan, who last week suggested the country did not need family farms.

Sir Keir was forced to distance himself from the remarks after Mr McTernan known as family farming is “an industry we can do without”.

Treasury data shows that around three quarters of farmers will pay nothing in inheritance tax due to the controversial changes.

But farmers have disputed these figures, instead citing data from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, which suggests 66 per cent of farming businesses are worth more than the £1m threshold at from which inheritance tax will now have to be paid.

Baroness Mallalieu, a Labor peer and chair of the Countryside Alliance, said the changes “smack of incompetence”.

She told BBC Radio 4 Westminster Time: “No impact study has been carried out. The figures differ between the Treasury and Defra, and certainly different from those of the NFU.

“But I hope they look at the situation very carefully and just see what the unintended consequences were.”

Meanwhile, farmer Gareth Wyn Jones said GB News he will not sell lamb or beef this week to “show what will happen in the future”.

He said the government was failing to protect “the people who feed them”, adding: “We are going to have serious problems in the near future with food shortages.”

“As an industry, our job is to produce food affordably and seasonally, to help feed everyone in this country with nutritious food. If we have a 20 percent increase in inheritance tax, we’re going to have to find it somewhere.

“The only way to do this is to increase our production and once that production increases by 20 percent, the poorest people in society will struggle,” he continued.