Furious farmers hit out at Labour’s Environment Secretary Steve Reed choice of wellies: a designer £420 pair given to him by Lord Alli_Nhy
Farmers have been left furious at Labour‘s Environment Secretary Steve Reed – over the choice of his wellies.
The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs was pictured just three months after he assumed his current role sporting a pair of £420 Le Chameau wellies, which were reportedly gifted to him by Lord Waheed Alli.
According to reports, the Labour peer has donated tens of thousands of pounds to seven Cabinet ministers, including Mr Reed.
And for farmers already furious at Budget plans to hike inheritance tax on agricultural land, the MP for Streatham’s choice of footwear is one step too far.
‘You’ll never see a farmer who wears £400 wellies, because we’re getting them covered in muck every day’, Aled Thomas, a farmer and Conservative councillor based in Pembrokeshire, Wales, told the Telegraph.
‘How can the MP for Streatham know anything about what’s going on in the depths of rural Wales or England? There’s this disconnect between the reality on the ground and what people are actually going through and what happens within the M25’.
He added that Mr Reed, 60, has left people feeling ‘quite insulted’.
Steve Reed was pictured wearing £420 Le Chameau wellies with former National Farmers’ Union president Minette Batters
According to the Le Chameau website, the expense of the handmade boots is owed to the craftsmanship of a master bootmaker, as well as the use of high quality materials
Andrew Court, a farmer from Staffordshire, added that ‘anything above £100 is not really appropriate for farming’.
‘If you want to make the right impression with people, you probably want a more practical down-to-earth welly’, he told the Telegraph.
According to the Le Chameau website, the expense of the handmade boots is owed to the craftsmanship of a master bootmaker, as well as the use of high quality materials.
It comes as farmers across the country have been left furious over the reforms announced by Rachel Reeves in her first Budget on Wednesday.
From April 2026, inheritance tax (IHT) will be levied at an effective rate of 20 per cent on the value of business and agricultural assets over £1million. Previously, farmland was exempt from the tax.
The changes mean that tenant farmers could be forced out as large landowners can secure alternative tax exemptions if land is used differently, while some will be unable to pass their farms down through their families.
Farming groups have been left furious over the change, with industry leaders accusing the Government of breaking ‘clear promises’ not to tamper with exemptions for agricultural property.
The National Farmers’ Union predicted the change would ‘snatch away the next generation’s ability to carry on producing British food’ – and could lead to higher prices.
And the Country Land and Business Association said the move would hit 70,000 farms – calling it ‘nothing short of a betrayal’ which would ‘jeopardise the future of rural businesses’.
High profile celebrities like Jeremy Clarkson and Kirstie Allsopp have also blasted the Government for the move, with Ms Allsopp accusing Ms Reeves of having ‘f***ed all farmers’ and ‘destroyed their ability to pass farms on to their children’.
From April 2026, inheritance tax will be levied at an effective rate of 20 per cent on the value of business and agricultural assets over £1million.
Ms Allsopp was the most outspoken, accusing Ms Reeves of having ‘f***ed all farmers’ and ‘destroyed their ability to pass farms on to their children’.
And Mr Clarkson, who fronts the highly popular Clarkson’s Farm series following his rural travails in the Cotswolds,posted on X: ‘Farmers. I know that you have been shafted today. But please don’t despair. Just look after yourselves for five short years and this shower will be gone.’
Mr Clarkson, whose show Clarkson’s Farm follows his efforts to run a 1,000-acre farm in the Cotswolds, posted on X: ‘Farmers. I know that you have been shafted today.
‘But please don’t despair. Just look after yourselves for five short years and this shower will be gone.’
Farmer Clive Bailye, who runs The Farming Forum discussion website, posted a tombstone image on social media. He said: ‘When my parents pass away, I will have no choice but to sell the land and property. My children will never have the opportunity to farm.’
The Staffordshire farmer added: ‘There are next to no farms worth under £1million except hobby farms. A £1million farm is 100 acres just for the land and you can’t make a living from 100 acres. It’s almost an insult to say £1million protects the family farm.
‘In a sector with the highest rate of suicide of any profession, some might think it’s time to pass on the farm before this comes in. Is the Government going to have blood on their hands?’
It comes following reports that a farmer is feared to have taken his own life after the tax grab plans were announced.
An anonymous post on the British Farming Forum said: ‘This morning I found my dad in the barn having taken his own life.
‘So afraid of the IHT implications on farms he took his own life rather than see the government take half the farm in IHT’.
New rules introduced by Rachel Reeves in the Budget mean inheritance tax will be levied at an effective rate of 20 per cent on the value of business and agricultural assets over £1million – axing a previous exemption
Industry leaders accused the Government of breaking ‘clear promises’ not to tamper with exemptions for agricultural property (file image)
The author also claimed they believed their father aimed to ‘beat the budget by ending his life’ and that it is what happens when ‘you have built something your entire life and see it robbed from beneath your kids’ feet’.
However, the National Farmers Union (NFU) told The Sun it could not confirm whether the claims were true.
Farmers across the country are set to gather in London on November 19 as part of a major demonstration against the changes.
Many are now threatening to attend the demo with their tractors and other large machinery, which could grind the capital to a halt. Farmers last demonstrated in London in March over food security fears.
But the Chancellor and No10 have defended the change, saying little more than a quarter of farms will be affected, and even then they will pay at half the regular 40 per cent IHT rate.
Earlier this week, Ms Reeves risked sparking fresh anger when she said the change was a ‘fair’ way for the government to raise money for public spending.
She told Channel 4 News: ‘On top of the normal inheritance tax threshold that you can pass on – a couple of million pounds including a house – to your descendants, in addition agricultural property relief will now provide another million pounds of tax-free allowance and then above that there is a 50 per cent discount on inheritance tax compared with what everyone else pays.
‘We have got to raise money, I feel we’ve done that in fair and balanced way – 73 per cent of farmers won’t be paying a single penny more in inheritance tax.’
Farmers last demonstrated in London in March over food security fears (pictured)
The National Farmers Union is to hold a major Westminster rally next month after Rachel Reeves revoked farmland’s exemption from inheritance tax (IHT).
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said the country had ‘voted for change’ and vowed to ‘invest’ as she mounted one of the biggest raids in history in the Commons
But the president of the NFU has said he is ‘absolutely baffled’ at the Government’s decision to ‘double down’.
Tom Bradshaw, who is meeting Mr Reed on Monday, said the current plans to change agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) ‘need to be overturned and fast’.
Mr Reed said that the plans outlined in the Budget are a ‘fair and balanced approach that protects family farms while also fixing the public services those same families rely on’.
Writing for The Daily Telegraph on Friday, Mr Reed said: ‘I completely understand farmers’ anxiety at any changes. But rural communities need a better NHS, affordable housing and public transport we can provide if we make the system fairer.
‘That is why the Labour Government has announced plans to reform agricultural property relief.
‘Only the richest estates will be asked to pay, not small, family farms as some misleading headlines have claimed.
‘Look at the detail and you’ll see that the vast majority of farmers will not be affected at all.
‘They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.’
