Keir Starmer warned many family farms ‘won’t survive to see government’s plans to help boost profits’
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National Farmers’ Union urged ministers to ‘pause and consult’ Rachel Reeves’ Budget changes. Labour’s “devastating” family farms tax means many won’t survive long enough to see ministers’ plans to help boost their profits, their union has warned.
The government have unveiled a ‘new deal’ for the sector following an outcry over Rachel Reeves’ controversial changes to inheritance tax which have led to a revolt in countryside communities. But NFU president Tom Bradshaw said the government “fundamentally fails to recognise that the industry is in a cash flow crisis… devastating inheritance tax changes, national insurance hikes, crippling cuts to direct payments and delays to environmental schemes mean many businesses won’t survive to benefit from the ‘New Deal’”.
He praised ministers for the saying that the primary role of farmers is to produce food but added “how is it going to ensure food production is profitable when thousands of farmers and growers are questioning whether they’ll still be in the industry in the next year?”.
He said ministers should instead urgently “pause and consult” on the tax changes, which have led to claims they will destroy family farms by forcing them to be sold off or broken up. Under the changes, farms valued at £1m or more will be subject to 20 per cent inheritance tax. The Treasury claims that with tax allowances taken into consideration, only farms worth £3m will be affected, amounting to just 28 per cent of family farms. But figures from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs appear to suggest that as many as 66 per cent could be hit.
