‘It’s massive’: farmers shocked at budget – but is concern over inheritance tax overblown?

Countryside defenders from NFU to Clarkson are up in arms – but experts say only richest estate owners will be affected

For Will Oliver, an arable farmer in Leicestershire, Labour’s first budget in 14 years was a shock: despite the signals beforehand that inheritance tax was going to be a key source of tax revenue, his reaction was still one of disbelief.

“I didn’t think they were going to do it,” he said. “This is big. It’s massive.”