A fourth-generation farmer has branded Rachel Reeves’s Budget an “insult to working people”.

Michael Dart, who runs Darts Farm in Exeter, Devon, with his two brothers, spoke of the toll of National Insurance and minimum wage hikes, alongside cuts to business rate relief.

These are on top of agricultural and business property relief changes, and inflation.

In her Budget speech, Ms Reeves said “working people” would not see an increase in income tax, National Insurance or VAT, fulfilling a promise made by Labour at the general election.

Instead, employers saw an increase in National Insurance contributions on their workers’ earnings which will raise up to £25billion a year for the government.

Mr Dart, whose family’s history as freehold farmers goes back to the year 1600, said: “The worst part of all of this is that anyone who knows our business normally says to us brothers ‘you work too hard’.

“We’re certainly described as workers. When Rachel Reeves said the Budget wouldn’t impact working people, I think it was an insult to hardworking employers not to be described as a working person.

“It’s an absolute insult. The sad thing is that even if she thinks employers aren’t working people – which I think most employers would find impossible to believe – this Budget has really hit working people.

“All the 400 people who work with us in our team are certainly working people and this Budget will harm them. It will lead to job cuts and reduced pay rises because it won’t be affordable. It will hit the very people she said she wanted to help.

“Why do they make stupid promises that then leave them in a corner? Why they did that is stupidity.

“It worries me more than that because it tells me it’s deliberate – a lot of people would be very concerned if so. Or ‘I don’t understand the damage it’s doing’, which is equally concerning because she’s Chancellor of the Exchequer.

“It’s No 10 and No 11. They are in this together. We all want a good public sector. But the cost of that to the country has to be paid for by the private sector and if we don’t have a strong, vibrant private sector, then we won’t have good public services.”

The family’s award-winning farm shop sells produce such as vegetables, salad and potatoes.

It includes a butchery, cheesemongers, bakery, florist and a food hall with teas, coffees and olive oils from high-quality artisan producers.

The family also has a ruby-red Devon beef herd and rotational crops of grasses and cereals.

Mr Dart said there “isn’t really an obvious way to automate”, which makes them dependent on manual labour.

The Chancellor announced a 40% relief on business rates for the retail, hospitality and leisure industry in 2025-26, up to a cap of £110,000 per business.

Retail properties have enjoyed business rates relief since 2020 and are currently benefiting from a 75% discount capped at £110,000 per business. This is due to expire in April 2025.

The autumn Budget announced increases to the National Minimum Wage that will take effect from April 1.

The Chancellor also announced that from April 2026, combined agricultural and business property assets up to £1million will still receive 100% inheritance tax relief but anything above that will be slapped with an effective rate of 20%.

The Daily Express has demanded a U-turn with its Save Britain’s Family Farms crusade.

Mr Dart said the farm is a hub for the community, providing a safe space for vulnerable people to come together.

He added: “This Budget, for a lot of businesses, feels like they’re trying to put us out of business. When they tell you it’s a Budget for growth, it makes you wonder whether they understand the economy.

“She doesn’t appear to understand the sector-by-sector impact. If she was going to be fair, she would have measures in place to help mitigate the impact for sectors that are very reliant on a lot of employees.

“We’ve never had to do that [make redundancies]. The sad thing is, going forward, hire fewer younger people or people they’ve given a chance to.

A government spokeswoman said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast.

“This Government will invest £5billion into farming over the next two years, the largest Budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history. We are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.

“Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs will mean farmers will pay a reduced inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than the standard 40% for other businesses, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates a year.”