Politics Farmers' Union president reduced to TEARS as thousands rally against Labour's 'cruel' tax raids

Farmers' Union president reduced to TEARS as thousands rally against Labour's 'cruel' tax raids​

Labour's family farm tax hikes reduced National Farmers' Union president Tom Bradshaw to tears today as he rallied against the "awful" knock-on effects of the raids.

Speaking at today's Environment Select Committee session, Bradshaw broke down as he warned that middle-aged farmers were concerned their parents do not have seven years left to ensure they can pass down their farm without paying tax.

Farmers like those were in an "awful, awful unacceptable position", he said through gritted teeth.

The correct advice had been to keep the farm until death, he said - but now, farmers have been left without a plan.

"Now they don't have any way to plan through that and yet they've given everything to producing the food for this country in that period post-Second World War.

"They really deserve more self-respect than they have been given by the changes that have been proposed."

He also warned of the "more severe human impacts" this policy could have, including the risk of farmers taking their own lives.

"No policy should ever be published that has that unintended side effect," he said.

Hitting back at arguments that money might not drive people in such a situation to suicide, he became emotional as he said: "It's not money. This is a lifetime of work, it's the heritage and the custodianship of their farm."

Anyone who is in emotional distress, struggling to cope or at risk of suicide can call the Samaritans anonymously for free from a UK phone on 116 123 or go to samaritans.org.

Starmer dodges new pledge on immigration in new 'plan for change'​

Keir Starmer is expected to dodge a new plan to approach the migrant crisis in his new "plan for change" which is yet to be released, The Telegraph reports.

He will release a 40-page document detailing his plans, spelling out key priorities

The Prime Minister will on Thursday unveil his “plan for change”, a document about 40 pages long spelling out his priorities for office.

It will map out how he will improve economic growth, the NHS, the environment, societal opportunities and policing.

But, despite the revelation last week that annual net migration hit almost a million under the Tories and Sir Keir claiming Britain had been turned into an “open borders experiment”, there will be no new migration target.

Richard Tice blasts 'useless' Kemi Badenoch for failing to challenge Starmer on farmer inheritance tax raid: 'Utterly inept!'​

Reform UK's Deputy Leader Richard Tice has launched a scathing attack on Conservative Party Leader Kemi Badenoch for her refusal to challenge Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer on Labour's inheritance tax raid on farmers, despite their London protest.

Speaking to GB News as hundreds of farmers protested outside Parliament, Tice branded Badenoch's focus on immigration "utterly inept".

"For the second week running, she completely messed up," Tice said.

He highlighted the presence of more than 500 tractors outside Westminster, criticising Badenoch's failure to address farmers' concerns about inheritance tax changes.

"There's 500 plus tractors here, and the farm tax, the grief tax, it's a catastrophe.

"And the clueless, useless Kemi Badenoch and her team went off on their weakest thing, which is immigration," he said.

"This is the big thing, and the Tories are completely out of touch," Tice declared.

In their second large-scale protest against the inheritance tax raid, hundreds of farmers descended on Westminster with their tractors to protest the changes, in a demonstration dubbed "RIP British Farming".

READ FULL STORY HERE

'No one could stop us!' Veteran farmer threatens Labour that they could bring Britain to a 'standstill in minutes'​

Labour has been handed a stark warning that the country could be brought to a "standstill in minutes" by blocking every port and main road across the nation.

Speaking to hundreds of furious farmers protesting in Westminster, veteran farmer David Catt said: “We can bring the country to a standstill in minutes. We could block all the ports, main roads and distribution centres.

"You have only got to see the kit that we have here today. The police, the army - no one could stop us.

"If we wanted to stop the country, we could do it… We don’t want to. All we are asking is [for] the Government to have a rethink."

'This is an iniquitous tax!' Blasts Jenrick as Labour 'declares war' on rural communities​

Shadow Justice Secretary Robert Jenrick has accused Labour of declaring "war on rural communities" over controversial inheritance tax changes affecting farmers.

Speaking to GB News, Jenrick called the tax "iniquitous" and warned it would prevent family farmers from passing their land to future generations.

The Conservative MP's comments come as hundreds of farmers prepare to stage tractor protests in the capital today.

Speaking to GB News, Robert Jenrick said: "The Government have declared war on rural communities right across our country.

"This is an iniquitous tax. This is preventing family farmers from handing on their farm, as they always planned, to their children and their grandchildren.

"It's going to cause havoc across the countryside. We, the Conservative Party, have been opposing it tooth and nail and we're going to keep pressing the case in Parliament, urging the government that it is not too late for them to change course."

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Labour 'treating farmers like second-class citizens', young farmer says​

Chris Cowles's older brother runs a 200-acre family farm near Market Harborough in Leicestershire.

Cowles, 28, said: "My brother farms, and I have to make enough money to offset the inheritance tax. If your farm isn't that profitable, which obviously is quite common these days, a lot of people will have to sell off potentially about 20 per cent of their farm.

"You have to be saving for 30 or 40 years to offset the inheritance tax, which is sort of an insane thought, especially if you have a bunch of older farmers who would not have that opportunity and are not making that money.

"It's almost expecting farmers to be second-class citizens - it's certainly treating them like second-class citizens," he added.

Chopper: 'This feels... FRENCH!'​

GB News' Political Editor Christopher Hope is at Parliament Square this afternoon as GB News continues its coverage of today's farmers' protests.

Chopper says the demonstration by British farmers "feels very... French... in its frustration."

'Labour looked at Jeremy Clarkson and went: "We'll have him!"', farm worker says​

Claire Fifield, 26, lives and works in London but regularly takes time off to help her step-family run their farm in Buckinghamshire.

They are tenant farmers and do not own the land they farm - and as a result of Labour's tax raids, Fifield says her family fear they won't be able to pass the business down to future generations.

She said: "The Government simply doesn't understand - £1million is nothing. I don't think they have spoken to a single farmer, and especially I don't think they’ve spoken to a tenant farmer.

"I think they looked at Jeremy Clarkson and went: 'We'll have him, we'll take his money.'

"That's fine, but don't punish the people who have been farming these lands for generations!"

Farmers have 'taken over', Farage declares as 'cortege' makes its way through London​

A 'cortege' for British farming is making its way through Westminster as today's protests roll on.

Horns blared out through the capital as a blue Land Rover Defender towing a Union Flag-draped coffin with the words "RIP farming" drove through Horseferry Road - with Nigel Farage sharing footage of the procession.

The Reform UK leader declared alongside his video: "The farmers have taken over Westminster!"

That came just minutes after deputy leader Richard Tice warned of "overwhelming rage amongst the farmers against Labour".

Tice added that he had "never seen passions so high".

'Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers' parody single smashes two million views​

"Freezing This Christmas", a parody song hitting out at Labour's Winter Fuel Payments cut, has reached more than two million views across all platforms, creator Chris Middleton has announced.

The song, which parodies Mud's "Lonely This Christmas", by Middleton's alias "Sir Starmer and the Granny Harmers", takes a series of piercing jabs at Labour's top brass - referring to the PM as "Two-tier Keir" and Rachel Reeves as a "fraud" in the wake of a "deception" row over her CV.

The wannabe No1's lyrics include lines such as: "It'll be freezing this Christmas without fuel at home - it'll be freezing this Christmas while Keir Starmer's warm... It'll be cold, so cold, without fuel at home this Christmas."

"Keep buying, keep sharing, keep donating, and let's raise some money to support our pensioners this Christmas," Middleton said.

WATCH CHRIS MIDDLETON'S INTERVIEW WITH GB NEWS HERE

Starmer urged to 'change course' on inheritance tax raids as British farmers dubbed 'best in the world'​

Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to "change course" on Labour's inheritance tax raids amid widespread protests on the streets outside Parliament.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said: "British farmers are the best in the world. They are the best in the world because of our tradition of family farms, where from generation to generation a commitment to high-quality food, to our precious environment and animal welfare is passed down.

“But family farms were let down badly by the last Conservative government, with the botched transition to new payment schemes, and their unfair trade deals with Australia and New Zealand that have undercut British farmers.

"Now many family farms feel the Government's Budget will be the final blow. So will the Prime Minister change course and recognise the vital role that British family farms play?"

Starmer replied: "We put £5billion into farming over the next two years... That is a record number under the Budget. Last week alone, £350million to support farmers across the United Kingdom.

"That does contrast with the last Government... an underspend of £350million in relation to farmers. In relation to inheritance tax - in a typical family case, the threshold is £3million and therefore the vast majority of farmers will be unaffected despite the fearmongering of the party opposite."

'For once, will he take the side of the British people?' Incredulous Badenoch accuses Starmer of 'consistently backing criminals'​

Kemi Badenoch accused Sir Keir Starmer of having "consistently backed criminals" before calling on him to strip citizenship from "jihadi terrorists and supporters of Assad" who want to return to Britain from Syria.

The Tory leader told the Commons: "The Prime Minister has consistently backed criminals over law-abiding British people. He defended terrorists, like Hizb ut-Tahrir in the European court. He argued all immigration law had a racist undercurrent. He voted against life sentences for people smugglers.

"He voted against more than 100 measures to control migration. He even said it was wrong when the Conservatives took away Shamima Begum's citizenship."

Badenoch added: "Events in Syria mean we may see more small boat arrivals. For once, will he take the side of the British people and strip citizenship from jihadi terrorists and supporters of Assad who want to come back and destroy this country?"

Starmer replied: "I was director of public prosecutions for five years. Unlike anyone on their benches, I was prosecuting for five years hundreds of thousands of criminals - that includes huge terrorist gangs.

"I was working for three of those five years with the then-home secretary Theresa May, who commended the work that I did at the end of those five years.

"So for her to stand there and say 'I haven't done anything in law enforcement'... I dedicated five years of my life to law enforcement, locking up criminals, which is more than she can say!"

Whitehall PACKED with tractors as horns echo outside PMQs​

New images have emerged of today's fleet of tractors in Westminster - with scores of the vehicles lining Whitehall as PMQs rumbles on.

Farage: 'Average' Badenoch plunging Tories into 'much deeper trouble than they know'​

Nigel Farage has warned that the "average" Kemi Badenoch is plunging the Conservatives into "much deeper trouble than they know".

Writing on social media, the Reform UK leader said: "I am watching the Tory backbenchers as Kemi Badenoch gives another average performance at PMQs. There is almost no enthusiasm for her at all.

"They are in much deeper trouble than they know," he says.

From earlier: Hundreds of tractors arrive in Westminster as Starmer and Reeves dubbed 'grave robbers' by furious farmers​

Farmers are in London ahead of mass protests once again today in reaction to Labour's "cruel" family farm tax raids.

November 19 saw thousands of farmers turn up on the streets of Westminster - where they were joined by famous faces and politicians calling for the planned inheritance tax hikes to end.

And now, tractors are returning to the capital for a fresh demo organised by Save British Farming (SBF) and Kent Fairness for Farmers - while other protests are slated for outside the Welsh Senedd and in towns and cities across the country as Britain's agricultural workers make their voices heard.

SBF founder Liz Webster - whose protests will unfold as PMQs are underway at noon - said the Prime Minister "is pulling the rug from under farmers' feet, aiming to dismantle British farming as we know it".

"But farmers are resilient and united in this fight," she said, comparing the tax raids to the "straw that broke the camel’s back".

Meanwhile, National Farmers' Union president Tom Bradshaw, whose group is not officially involved today, said: "These events reflect the strong feelings across the agricultural community. We hope they are well-attended and farmers' voices are heard."

Early on Wednesday morning, tractors were already on the move as farmers made their way to the capital - with some sporting slogans reading "Starmer the farmer harmer" and "Keir Stalinarmer, global laughing stock - stop the death tax".

Labour's farm tax raids 'a kick in the teeth', Surrey farmer says​

Will Elliott, aged 50, drove his tractor for three hours from his farm near Grafham, south of Guildford, in Surrey, to attend the protest. His farm, Whipley Manor Farm, predominantly grows cereal crops and grass that they make into hay.

He said: "The industry is already down on its knees and this is just another kick in the teeth. My family have been farming in Surrey for nine generations within about 5 miles. I’m the fourth generation to run our current farm.

"Obviously, the idea is that we want to pass it down to the next generation, but farmers are asset-rich, cash poor, we're not going to have the money to pay the inheritance tax.

"In Surrey, for instance, it doesn’t take much to reach the million pounds."

"[Labour] got the wrong data and way more farmers are going to be affected than what they say.

"We'll lose the fabric of the rural countryside. Farms will get split up, the land is not going to get taken care of, we'll lose habitat - and more importantly, we're not going to be able to grow the food if we haven't got the farms."

Reform UK rips into Tories and Labour as leaders butt heads on migration - 'Only we will end it!'​

Reform UK has taken a prod at Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch's head-to-head on migration at PMQs.

As the two leaders took aim at each other's record, the party said on social media: "Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch both talk about immigration during PMQs.

"Under the Tories, nearly one million people entered the country in just one year - and Labour won't even make ending mass immigration a priority.

"Only Reform will end mass immigration."

Starmer lays into Tories' 'unprecedented' migration 'experiment'​

Sir Keir Starmer has once again ripped into the Conservatives' record on migration, calling the party's approach to letting in "nearly one million" migrants into the country an "unprecedented experiment".

Kemi Badenoch had taken a jab at Starmer's "relaunch" last week, saying: "He has relaunched yet again, many new targets, six milestones, five missions - but why was cutting immigration not a priority?"

Starmer replies: "I'm glad she now wants to talk about immigration. Last week, she said she didn't, and for good reason."

Starmer said he was glad Badenoch wanted to discuss immigration - given the Tories presided over record high numbers of arrivals.

The PM promised to "drive immigration down" in the wake of the UK-Germany agreement earlier this week in which Germany finally criminalised smuggling migrants to Britain.

But on Badenoch's line of attack, Starmer said: "It's like the arsonist complaining about people trying to put the fire out."

PMQs about to begin - Starmer and Badenoch to go head-to-head as protest speeches begin outside​

PMQs are about to start, with Sir Keir Starmer and Kemi Badenoch set to butt heads just as today's farmers' protests speeches get underway.

Slated to ask questions in the Commons today are:

• Andy McDonald (Labour)
• Claire Young (Liberal Democrat)
• Jerome Mayhew (Conservative)
• Noah Law (Labour)
• Phil Brickell (Labour)
• Chris Law (SNP)
• Katrina Murray (Labour)
• Peter Lamb (Labour)
• Josh Newbury (Labour)
• Julie Minns (Labour)
• Frank McNally (Labour)
• Sarah Owen (Labour)
• Kirith Entwistle (Labour)
• Rebecca Paul (Conservative)

Rupert Lowe: 'Rachel Reeves is breaking the backbone of Britain'​

Reform UK's Rupert Lowe has torn into Rachel Reeves amid today's mass farmer protests.

Lowe, the MP for Great Yarmouth, told GB News that the Chancellor is "breaking the backbone of Britain" - and said he'd like to see combine harvesters on the streets of Westminster if and when the protests return.

James Cleverly says Labour 'didn't bother checking' tax raids with farmers as committee casts doubt over Treasury findings​

James Cleverly has said Labour "didn't bother checking" the effects of the tax raids with British farmers in an on-street interview with GB News - just as the Defra Select Committee has cast significant doubts over the Treasury's estimates of how many people would be affected.

Stuart Maggs, head of tax and partner at Howes Percival law firm, told the committee: "The real issue is, what does affected mean?

"What the Treasury have done is they've said: 'If we picked up this hypothetical set of rules that we've come up with and applied it to 2021, how many people would have paid some tax in those circumstances?

"That will never happen in the real world."

He said the Government should be looking at carrying out a forecast like that done by the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers, which focuses on "how many people are waking up this morning thinking: 'Am I going to lose my farm if my father dies?'"

"And that's much more likely to be about 70-75,000 people," he said.

Protesting farmers hail GB News in chance Westminster encounter - 'The channel for REAL British people"​

Bev Turner, on the ground in Westminster, has just had a chance encounter with one protesting farmer who has hailed GB News as "the channel for real British people".

The farmer, named Kevin, is sporting a jumper which reads: "GB News - the channel for real British people who want the truth, not lefty wokies who live on another planet and ignore real life!"

"I did not set that up, I promise you," says Bev.

Ex-Environment Secretary tears into Defra Committee as MPs scrutinise farm tax - 'They ALL agree Labour's numbers are wrong!'​

Former Environment Secretary Steve Barclay has raised the alarm over today's select committee hearing on Labour's farm tax raids.

Barclay said that "all" groups present - the NFU, the Country Land and Business Association, the Tenant Farmers Association and Central Association of Agricultural Valuers - agree that "Labour's numbers are wrong" on the tax.

PICTURED: Tractors line Whitehall as protests continue​

Farage speaks out on farmers' protests - 'To MPs, the English countryside is something they drive through!'​

Nigel Farage has spoken out on today's protests to GB News - he told The People's Channel: "I'm really pleased - not only that tractors are here - they're in Scotland, they're in Wales, they're in Yorkshire."

Asked what he wanted MPs to think when they looked out of their windows in Westminster, Farage said: "I think this world of rural England, of farming and fishing... I think this current group of MPs are more disconnected from that world than at any time since Parliament first sat 800 years ago.

"They have no comprehension... We have a politics which is dominated by a huge urban majority [with] no comprehension of what food is or where it comes from.

"The English countryside, to them, is something they drive through, and they think it's muddy and a bit wet. There is a real disconnect - but there is a silent majority of people in Britain who do understand this.

"Compare this to Palestinian protests, I would say that actually the disruption is minimal. Just Stop Oil close these roads without permission! These guys have done it the right way, the disruption to people's lives is minimal.

"The one thing that might turn the public against it is if we behaved a bit more like the French, whose protests are very violent."

Asked whether farmers should go further and withhold food over Christmas, the Reform UK leader said: "I'm not going to encourage them to produce food shortages... That's entirely up to them.

"Labour have got approximately 100 MPs who are representing rural or semi-rural constituencies... If Labour think they will lose those 100 seats, they will get a change," Farage added.

Labour's farm tax will STILL see family farms forced to compete with world's wealthiest, tax expert warns​

Dr Arun Advani, director of the think tank CenTax, has told today's committee that family farmers will still be competing with the world's wealthiest people for agricultural land - despite Labour's inheritance tax hikes.

He said: "The concern with the way the reform has been done is that it still leaves... a roughly 20 per cent effective rate above the threshold that's been set.

"One reason for doing that is because there are farmers who you might be concerned about, who are earning, who have wealth a bit above the current tax-free threshold, who you want to give a low rate to because of the well-documented concerns about incomes of farmers.

"But the downside is it still means that if you have, say, £100million or a billion pounds that you want to put into farmland, a 20 per cent rate is still much more attractive than other sorts of assets.

"And so what you will still have in this world is people who want to buy up agricultural land, competing with genuine farmers, who are trying to expand their farm, who really are actually wanting to work on the land.

"They're still going to have to compete with much better off people."

MPs hearing from farming leaders, finance experts about effects of Labour's tax raids​

The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee has begun - just as farmers start to gather outside the Palace of Westminster for further protests against Labour's inheritance tax raids.

MPs are first hearing from countryside and farming leaders and financial experts on the effects of the changes to inheritance tax.

Downing Street: 'Our commitment to farmers is steadfast'​

A reminder of Downing Street's line on Labour's inheritance tax raids ahead of today's protests.

The Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "We have been very clear we are not going to change course on this policy. It was necessary to take tough decisions at the Budget and the spending review and those decisions remain.

"But our commitment to farmers is steadfast and our message to farmers is clear, that is why we provided £5billion to the farming budget over two years including more money than ever for sustainable food production."

Protesting farmers start to arrive as Jenkyns labels Labour 'abhorrent'​

Tractors are rolling through Westminster - with many decked out with protest placards and union flags.

It comes as Reform UK's Dame Andrea Jenkyns has backed today's demonstrations - "Let's keep the pressure on this abhorrent Labour Government," she says.

PICTURED: Tractors arrive on Parliament Square​

Farmers are starting to arrive in Westminster ahead of today's protest.

It's expected that speakers outside Downing Street at midday will include North Wales hill farmer Gareth Wyn Jones, Berkshire farmer Colin Rayner and Northern Ireland Farmers for Action coordinator William Taylor.

'The cavalry is on the move!' Columns of farmers make their way to London as protests loom​

More live images of the tractor convoy heading to London from our reporter on the ground.

One group of farmers has kitted out their vehicles with union flags and protest signs as they gear up to take their fight to Parliament.

"The agricultural cavalry is on the move. Next stop: Westminster," Charlie Peters says.

Labour carries out first 'deportation flight' to Pakistan since 2020​

The Home Office is understood to have carried out its first deportation flight to Pakistan since 2020.

The flight, from London Stansted to Islamabad, landed just after 8am GMT on Wednesday - in the face of an attempt to thwart it by protest group Solidarity Detainee Support.

The successful return trip is the first of its kind since February 2020 - and though the Home Office had attempted to charter three flights to the country across 2020 and 2021, these were cancelled.

A spokesman for the department said: "It is longstanding Government policy that we do not comment on individual cases.

"Due to operational sensitivities, we will not be commenting on operational details, including location, of any potential return flights."

'We're on our way!' Follow live as tractor convoy advances on the capital​

A tractor convoy is making its way to Westminster ahead of today's large-scale protest in the capital.

One group of farmers is making its way south into London - and GB News understands a "go-slow" protest on the A41 dual carriageway is underway.

One of the farmers, Josh Morland, tells The People's Channel: "It's pretty blocked already with normal traffic... but we're on our way!"

GB News' National Reporter Charlie Peters is travelling alongside the farmers - "This muddy battalion of agricultural anger is gearing up to march on SW1," he says.

Corbyn and pro-Gaza 'Independent Alliance' to form 'new political party' in latest blow to Starmer​

Jeremy Corbyn has reportedly been preparing the groundwork for the creation of a new left-wing party in a fresh challenge to his Labour successor Sir Keir Starmer.

Corbyn, who was expelled from the Labour Party after announcing his independent candidacy ahead of the 2024 General Election, is supposedly looking to mirror the rise of Reform UK by mobilising the so-called “Independent Alliance” grouping ahead of 2029.

The rival quintet of pro-Gaza independent MPs will likely include Leicester South’s Shockat Adam, Birmingham Perry Barr’s Ayoub Khan, Blackburn’s Adnan Hussain and Dewsbury & Batley’s Iqbal Mohamed.

READ THE FULL STORY HERE

Reform UK takes aim at DWP as nearly one MILLION calls to department need translating - 'If you can't speak English, you can't get benefits!'​

Reform UK has unleashed a scathing attack on the Department for Work and Pensions after it emerged that almost one million calls to the department last year required an interpreter.

This morning, Great Yarmouth MP Rupert Lowe launched into a tirade against how "people unable to speak English [are] claiming benefits in such large numbers" and pointed to DWP figures revealing that some 865,299 phone calls needed translation in 2023.

"Why are these individuals entitled to financial support from the British taxpayer?" He asked. "If you can't speak English - the answer is no. You can't get benefits."

"Our welfare system is being systemically abused, and it is costing us all billions and billions," he added.

Deputy leader Richard Tice joined in too, declaring: "If you are a foreign national who can't speak English then you should not be able to claim benefits. Rupert is bang on the money. How many billions is this abuse costing?"

TWENTY-EIGHT Labour ministers have spouses or relatives on party payroll in 'new aristocracy' - despite canning hereditary peers​

An unprecedented 28 Labour ministers have spouses or relatives on the party's payroll, a new report has shown.

Seven Cabinet members, including the Defence and Business Secretaries, are either related to another minister, a Labour-appointed special adviser or a civil servant.

As part of the first set of so-called "transparency returns" published under Sir Keir Starmer's administration, the Government has been forced to outline any potential conflicts of interest from around the Cabinet table.

The figure has sparked fury from the Conservatives - under Rishi Sunak, the number stood at 11.

Shadow Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster Alex Burghart told The Sun: "Here's Labour's new aristocracy laid bare - it's all who you know or are related to."

A Labour insider told the newspaper: "People tend to get into Labour politics quite young, and then spend their time hanging out with their Labour comrades so often that it makes sense to marry one.

"For others, the parental or spouse connections can help them get a foot in the door or a leap up the ladder."

It comes just under a month since MPs voted by an overwhelming margin to oust the remaining hereditary peers from the House of Lords - at the time, Burghart said the party was "seeking to remove established scrutineers in order to replace them with Labour appointees".

Downing Street says: "To rebuild Britain and deliver the change our country needs will require talent, expertise and creativity. We won’t hesitate to make sure the right people are around the table."

Rayner to force prisons on Britain's villages as Labour wages war on 'Nimby' councils​

Angela Rayner will be handed new powers to force through prisons on green belt land and overrule local authorities as part of Labour's mass building drive.

Under a new set of laws to break through a "Nimby chokehold" on construction, the Ministry of Justice will be able to bypass councils, who normally have the upper hand on planning applications - even if the proposed buildings will be on green belt land.

MoJ officials will instead submit plans directly to the planning inspectorate, which comes under the remit of Rayner's housing ministry, which could give them the go-ahead in as little as 16 weeks.

Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood, announcing the new scheme, said: "Part of our plan for change, this capacity strategy, alongside an independent review of sentencing policy, will keep our streets safe and ensure no government runs out of prison places again."

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