Farming is the whole of my life...I've always wanted to work on the farm, says Florence, 8

DESPITE a succession of Labour MPs yesterday lining up to back Sir Keir Starmer's inheritance tax raid on farming, eight-year-old Florence Harris remains defiant.

- Jane Warren

The farmer's daughter was pictured on our front page sitting on a toy tractor and brandishing a placard that read "When I grow up I WANTED to be a FARMER" during the mass protest outside Westminster last month.

Now she has spoken out powerfully on behalf of farming families up and down the country who are deeply worried about whether children like herself and her younger brother James will be able to carry on in the vital food-producing profession.

When asked what message she would send to those in charge of the country, Florence told us: "All I want is for farmers to feel appreciated. At the moment politicians are just not thinking things through clearly.

"If this happens, the Government will be a bit annoyed because then there will be less food or chocolate available."

When Florence was just four, as in the photo below, she helped dad Rob to load cattle onto the lorry to the abattoir. As Rob collected paperwork from the house, the driver asked Florence what she wanted to be when she grew up. She replied: "A ballet dancer and a horse rider." The trucker laughed: "Don't you want to be a farmer?" but Florence shot back: "I already am."

She still loves to get up early to help Rob on the 120-acre Shropshire property near Orleton that has been farmed by his family for three generations.

Four-year-old James is also a keen farmer-in-the-making, with a passion for tractors.

His big sister Florence said: "Farming is the whole of my life and I've always wanted to work on the farm. I like the friendly cows, and I like helping Daddy."

The day after 45,000 farmers and supporters marched through London to protest against the Budget's inheritance tax changes that critics believe will wreck the industry within a generation, Florence's photo led the front page of the Daily Express - our crusade Save Britain's Family Farms is calling for a U-turn from the Government.