Crowds of farmers gathered to protest against inheritance tax changes on an Edinburgh city bypass on Sunday 2 February.
The protest began with a lane blocked at Old Craighall by several tractors at 10 am before migrating to the Gogar roundabout.
The decision to only block one lane was made to avoid causing too much disruption to motorists.
Placards expressed the farming community’s frustration over the national government’s policy, and photos of the protest showed one that read “no farms, no food.”
Members of the general public also expressed their support for the cause, with surrounding cars slowing to sound their horns.
Announced in the Autumn budget back in October, the Labour government plans to remove the inheritance tax exemption for farmers in 2026 on anything over the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property.
Farmers across the UK reacted to the budget announcement, with protests staged at Westminster in November. The Labour government claims the policy will not affect 75 per cent of farms and is targeted to protect smaller family farms.
National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) helped to organise the event and encouraged its members to attend.
The President of the NFUS, Martin Kennedy, said that the protests constituted “part of a UK-wide day of action to send yet another loud and clear message to Westminster that proposed inheritance tax changes would have a devastating impact on prime producers, threaten our family farms and national food security.”
The protest was initially planned for 25 January but was postponed due to the widespread damage caused by Storm Eowyn. Many of the NFUS members helped with the cleanup after the storm.
Illustration by Yury Aleksanyan.