Conservative MPs came out in force to oppose the Labour Government’s family farm tax - sadly only one Labour MP opposed this awful law, so it passed with a significant majority as Labour MPs piled into the lobby to push it through.
And, against this Labour government’s anti-farming agenda, that one MP has now been suspended from the Party.
To me, that sends out a very clear message and something I have known for a long time. Labour does not care about our farmers nor does it understand rural life. If it did it would not be pushing ahead with the changes that will devastate farming and the farming community.
These decade old rules were introduced to protect our family farms, and by choosing to scrap them, it shows Labour has no understanding of the sector.
From April farms worth more than £1million will no longer be exempt from paying the tax (when passing on landholdings to family). Farmers need a certain amount of land to make their farm viable. For many farmers that is upwards of 200 acres but can run into thousands of acres for others. It has been estimated that owning just 100 acres of land would be enough to reach the threshold of paying tax, meaning this policy will affect nearly all farmers – not just a few “rich” farmers as Labour claims.
The only way to pay the inheritance tax bill will be to sell off land which in turns makes the farm unviable.
We have just four months to keep fighting this as the changes come into force in April. And the devastation it will cause will be widespread. It will impact all associated businesses such as farm machinery businesses, animal feed businesses and farm suppliers and for everyone there will be an increase in food costs as the country’s food security will be threatened as our reliance on imports will increase.
More than 275,000 members of the public have called on the government to make changes to the policy and trade associations representing 160,000 family businesses wrote to the Chancellor calling for reform to the policy.
Instead of listening to these concerns this government pushes ahead blindly, either oblivious to or with no care for, the disastrous consequences that lie ahead.
