As British farmers warn of suicides over IHT, Trump delivers a rare moment of truth – and exposes Starmer’s deafening refusal to engage
‘We were losing a lot of people to suicide. They’d borrow money to pay the estate tax and they were not able to pay it. And some banks are ruthless – they wouldn’t do anything, and they [the farmers] would end up committing suicide.’ – President Trump.
28th July 2025 has been a momentous day. Donald J. Trump, the leader of the free world, has said something not only momentously sensible, but, honestly, truly profound.
Since the autumn Budget last year, which announced plans to remove inheritance tax protections for agricultural land, farmers have been shouting from their tractors for someone – anyone – to sit up and listen.
And what has been the government’s response?
Keir Starmer and his Labour cabinet have stuck their fingers in their ears and screamed, ‘I can’t hear you!’, as the NFU and farming community warn that farmers will take their own lives over this decision.
Beautiful dirt
Let me be clear: I’m no Trump fan. The only thing worse than his politics might be his golfing ability … or perhaps some of his more unsavoury past connections. But if he is the only man on the planet who can get Starmer to listen – to take seriously the reality that British farmers may be driven to suicide by the financial pressure of trying to keep their land in the family – then all power to him.
If you haven’t seen it, we’ve set it to play on the left. Trump was asked by Beverley Turner, of GB News, for his view on farmers and the impact of the ‘death tax’ – inheritance tax – in a meeting with journalists with the two leaders.
His answer?
‘A lot of these farms, they don’t make a lot of money, but it’s a way of life.
They love their way of life and they love that dirt. That dirt is the most beautiful thing they’ve seen.
‘I mean, they are farmers. They love doing what they do. They don’t know how to do anything else, but they don’t want to do anything else.’
It’s not exactly Rudyard Kipling’s If … but the sentiment is real.
And it’s true.
Farmers love dirt.
They love doing the hard graft that most people in this country wouldn’t even contemplate doing. They don’t do it for money. They don’t do it for fame. They don’t even do it for thanks.
They do it because it’s what they love. It’s what their parents loved. And their parents. And their parents before them.
Real consequences
In May, it was reported that a farmer from Barnsley, found dead in his barn last October – the day before the government’s budget – had taken his own life out of fear for what Rachel Reeves’ proposals would mean.
His son told an inquest that he believed his father wanted to ‘beat’ the government’s proposals and ‘save the farm for future generations.’
Trump finished by saying: ‘We have totally ended the estate tax and those situations – so there’s no death tax.
‘So when a parent leaves the farm to the kids, they don’t have to worry about their local, possibly unfriendly, banker coming in and stealing their farm.’
Well said, Mr Trump.
Thank you for giving me three minutes of joy watching Starmer squirm as you spoke of the plight of farmers.
How about we don’t Make America Great Again? Let’s just work out how to Make Farming Work Again.
