Please find below a summarised version of the welcome address NFU President Tom Bradshaw will give to NFU members at Church House in London on 19^th November ahead of them meeting their MPs as part of the NFU's mass lobby event to highlight the injustices and failings of the Government's proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief. These remarks will form part, but not all, of what Mr Bradshaw says.

Please check against delivery.

"Welcome everybody. On behalf of all the UK farming union presidents, who join me here today, thank you for making the effort to be here and join the fight. I know many of you have come a long way.

"You don't need me to tell you farmers and growers put up with a lot, but it takes something extraordinary to get us to react like this and this betrayal on APR/BPR is extraordinary, and it affects farmers from every corner of Britain, many of whom are here today or joining us for later sessions.

"I don't think I've ever seen the industry this angry, this disillusioned and this upset. And given what we've had to be angry about in recent years that's saying something.

"Together, our focus today with MPs is APR & BPR, this shocking policy built on bad data and launched with no consultation. The Treasury didn't even tell Defra!

"To launch a policy this destructive without speaking to anyone involved in farming beggars' belief.

"And let us remember that they promised not to do this when they were wooing the rural vote. It's not only been bungled in delivery, it's also nothing short of a stab in the back.

"But we in this room also know that APR & BPR is the straw which broke the camel's back for farming. After years of changing policy and 18 months of some of the worst weather on record, the budget has been a kick in the teeth. It is full of let-downs for our vital sector: accelerated BPS reductions, double cab pick-up taxes, new taxes on fertilisers. The list goes on.

"There has never been a budget this bad for farming in my lifetime.

"Rest assured the NFU, and the other unions, are fighting all of these policies. But today we focus on APR with our MPs.

"We know what this means for our families, for our children, for our future. We know the horrendous pressure it is putting on older farmers worried sick. It's wrong on every level and, just as bad, it won't achieve what ministers want it to anyway.

"Far from catching wealthy homeowners with a bit of land, the Treasury's mangling of the data means those people will generally not be affected. It's the farms producing this country's food, which are more valuable assets, that are caught in the eye of the storm.

"The irony that this asset wealth will never become actual wealth unless farms are broken up or sold – kicking the legs out from under Britain's food security -  is a bitter one. And they will need to be broken up or sold, because farmers simply won't have the money to pay this tax any other way.

"The sight of ministers thrashing about trying to justify the unjustifiable is not an edifying one.

"First they said this policy would protect 'the majority of farms'. When they couldn't hold that line they changed to saying they were protecting 'small family farms'. And when that fell apart, only last night, they switched to suggesting this mess of a policy would make 'the most valuable farms' pay.

"This is sorry stuff. It's also what happens when you launch a policy without consulting anyone who knows anything about it. Farmers, and the public, deserve better.

"But we know we're not alone. We know that the campaign your union has run from before the budget has got the public onside, overwhelmingly supporting farmers.

"You'll meet members of the public today I'm sure, here to support you and your families. Make sure you tell how much their support means to you and how important it is in this fight.

"Your key job today is to look your own MPs in the eye and make them understand that there is a political price to be paid, by them, not just ministers, for supporting this rotten policy. In Westminster, in Cardiff, in Edinburgh and in Belfast.

"Our request is simple – this is a policy that will rip the heart of out of Britain's family farms, launched on bad data with no consultation and it must be halted and considered properly, taking in the views of the experts not just Treasury civil servants.

"Tell MPs your stories, from the heart. Tell them how this affects you, your farm, your family and your future.

"As you'd expect, a huge amount of effort has gone in behind the scenes as well as publicly. We'll continue that too.

"It may be that ministers think today will be "it", that we'll get tired and they can just wait this out. Well farmers may get tired, but as every one of you in this room knows, they don't give up. We won't give up. We won't stop fighting this nationally or locally, in every constituency. If they don't realise that, they really don't know farmers at all.

"Good luck today. With our colleagues on the rally in Whitehall – which you're welcome to join when not seeing your MP – we'll demonstrate today that when farming speaks with a united voice, it's deafening.

"Today isn't the culmination of our efforts. It's the start.

"Thank you."