‘Disastrous’ farm inheritance tax changes makes thriving sector impossible – NFU
A farming leader has urged the Government to pause its “disastrous” reforms to agricultural inheritance tax in order to deliver on food security and growth.
National Farmers’ Union president Tom Bradshaw said he had never before seen the “anger, despair and sense of betrayal” prompted by ending the 100% exemption from inheritance tax on qualifying business and agricultural assets worth more than £1 million.
In his new year message, Mr Bradshaw said Labour’s first budget, which brought in the proposed changes, had capped a “wretched year” for farming, which had suffered volatile costs, one of the wettest periods in decades and a reduction in subsidies.
‘Indefensible’
He described the inheritance tax changes as an “indefensible family farm tax”, although the Government has repeatedly defended the move, saying the vast majority of farmers will not have to pay it.
Mr Bradshaw said that before the election, there were a number of policies in Labour’s manifesto that “provided optimism”, and called for them to be delivered at pace.
He called for measures to ensure the new environmental payments regime for landowners works for food production alongside nature, and supports businesses in the uplands in particular, and also urged robust standards for food imports.
Legislation
He also called for legislation to boost promised public procurement of British food, and a planning system that supports farmers.
“These are the building blocks needed to secure UK food security and provide Britain’s farmers and growers the confidence they desperately need to invest for the future and deliver on our joint ambitions to produce more sustainable, affordable, homegrown food while creating more jobs and delivering for nature, supporting greener energy security and climate-friendly farming,” he said.
He also said there had been successes for British farming, including fairer supply chains in the dairy sector and eight of the UK’s major retailers backing the NFU’s long-standing call for “buy British” tabs to be added to their websites.
He added that the NFU would be pushing for fairness in the supply chain in 2025.
“Our ambitions are clear, and the manifesto commitment from this Government that national security is food security gave us hope to deliver the thriving industry that farmers and growers want to be a part of,” he said.
“Clearly, the shadow hanging over the industry from the disastrous proposed reforms to inheritance tax makes delivering these ambitions impossible.
“To move forwards, we need the Government to urgently recognise the need to pause and consult so we can focus on delivering the far more exciting agenda above.
“As we head into the new year, we will build on the momentum of the public’s unwavering support and strive to ensure we are doing everything we can to help deliver a thriving and profitable farming industry – one that is good for shoppers, good for the environment and good for a secure supply of British food.”
‘Steadfast’
A Government spokesperson said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast and our Plan for Change will protect food security and grow the rural economy.
“We have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, the largest ever for sustainable food production and nature’s recovery, and we are developing a 25-year farming roadmap to ensure greater profitability for rural businesses in the years to come.
“Our reform to agricultural and business property relief will impact around 500 estates a year.
“For these estates, inheritance tax will be at half the rate paid by others, with 10 years to pay the liability back interest free.
“This is a fair and balanced approach which will help fix the public services we all rely on.”
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If we and farmers are to honestly attempt to be food secure farms in Wales must diversify and change. A huge majority of farms in Wales rely on sheep farming yet how many people in Wales will be eating lamb today? Farm produce in Wales does not mirror the food we eat.
Lamb exports probably generate some of that foreign currency that enables imports of the stuff people eat from the other side of the world. There was a time we could rely on manufacturing industry to generate those currencies too but successive governments have done a hell of a job of destroying our industrial base. As for farming I would like to see a step change away from the industrial scale chicken and dairy production, reverting to smaller units rearing better quality products and diversifying where possible into a wider range of seasonal vegetables, using glass and polytunnels to enhance reliability… Read more »
“Lamb exports probably generate some of that foreign currency that enables imports of the stuff people eat from the other side of the world” – and that does nothing for food security as defined by the NFU – the UK producing the food we need to eat.
Much as I might agree with that food security goal it won’t be achieved instantly for obvious reasons. The big food retailers could be the major stumbling block with their “cost down” ( profits up) stance on most things they sell.
Especially with uk government deal to sell out our lamb business. I don’t think I know anyone who eats lamb anymore myself. Got to explore new ways. And avoid being the toy for Dyson and those who own farms to avoid tax. The changes are designed to reduce land costs by making the rich less likely to buy up land as tax write offs. If it works it could bring more small holding farmers in it opportunity for children of farmers to explore new crops, techniques and food trends. Or use some land for green energy generation.
I think the so-called disastrous inheritance tax pales into significance compared to the damage Brexit has done to the sector. Would this tax necessary if we were still in EU. Doubtful. Welsh & UK farmers would still be selling its lamb, & beef to Europe tariff free and other benefits as a member state. This tax is because Wales is financially suffering because of 14 years of Tory chaos & mismanagement, 25 years of Welsh Labour and 6 months of power mad authoritarian ruler Keir Starmer’s Labour party who like a chameleon constantly change their political colours to suit the… Read more »
Losing the will and time for any sympathy now when they moan about losing subsidies (from my taxes but prices remain high) and Dyson, and Clarkson are cheer leaders for them and the right wing media just spouting nonsense to fire them up where the massive land owners will quietly continue to benefit massively (Mr Punchy came across as normal when the BBC showed him up).
Are they still going to block ambulances? Though Braverman etc. wanted that sort of protest clamped down on with prejudice from plod?
Yes, I think that the rich tax avoiders have been allowed to make all the noise when in fact the basic problem with the proposal, as far as I can see (so I may be wrong!) is that it does not sharply enough distinguish between real farming families and the tax avoiders. The NFU should be working on ways to do that and lobbying the Government to adopt a better distinction. I suspect that the trouble is that the NFU has too many very rich blokes in it top hierarchy so they do not want to get that distinction sorted… Read more »
That’s certainly a big component in the problem. There needs to be some sort of “boundary” between real working farmers and the toff landowners who are definitely in it for the tax dodging aspects which will remain even though diluted dramatically.
It would help the farmers’ cause if some would stand up and say they also didn’t want to see wealthy nonfarmers buying up farmland just to pass their vast BBC earnings to their progeny without paying inheritance tax, and this is how it could be done instead. The apparent silence on this plays into the narrative that it’s one club of millionaires helping other millionaires.