Nigel Farage has welcomed a “Christmas gift” for British farmers after Labour confirmed a major change to inheritance tax thresholds.

The Reform UK leader, who recorded his response from his constituency of Clacton, suggested lifting the threshold from £1million to £2.5million would make an “absolutely enormous” difference for the farming community.

He said: “I’ve said to the farmers all the way through, ‘keep protesting, keep going. Do it peacefully, we’re not French, we don’t set fire to things’.

“And boy, the farming community has been very consistent, all the way through this, and now we get a U-turn.

“This Government is well-known for U-turns, but this is a very welcome U-turn.

“The raising of the threshold to £2.5million will make an absolutely enormous difference.

“Sure, some will argue it needs to go even higher but it is a massive step in the right direction for small family farms right across the country.”

Mr Farage, who admitted meeting “tearful” farmers in Clacton who had been left “terrified” by Rachel Reeves’s inheritance tax raid, also claimed Labour had been forced into the U-turn due to growing discontent from backbench MPs.

He added: “This is good news, a massive step in the right direction, this is a welcome Christmas gift for our embattled rural communities.

“They’re under attack elsewhere. If you have a look at their new proposals by 2030 for animal welfare, it’ll disadvantage British farmers against our competition in Europe, let alone the attempt to even ban trail hunting.”

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