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Farming The sector is “shocked and fearful of what may happen next”. farmers saying things changes inheritance tax The government’s review found that the biggest issue they face is in relation to feasibility.
farmers He has repeatedly protested against changes since they were announced last year, which will see them pay tax at a rate of 20 per cent on inherited farming properties worth more than £1 million.
Agricultural Profitability Report by East National farmers‘ Union president Minette Batters has called for “a new deal for profitable farming” that recognizes the real costs of food production and distribution to the environment.
The controversial changes were not included in the terms of review by Baroness Batters. inheritance taxBut he said almost all respondents in his review had raised this as the biggest issue regarding agricultural viability.
This review comes amidst an atmosphere of hostility Labor Party in rural areas, farming communities believe they have been misled sir keir starmer On his promise to support them before the elections.
The issue saw Lancashire’s Labor MP Cat Smith clash with Sir Keir earlier this week when he appeared before the Commons Liaison Committee.
He warned that they had “pulled the rug out from under family farms”, that people who voted Labor were feeling “misled”, and that some farmers with terminal diagnoses were trying to “speed up” their own deaths so they could get to their farms before April.
Another MP, Marcus Campbell-Severs, who represents the rural Cumbrian seat of Penrith and Solway, has been suspended from the Labor parliamentary party for voting against the government on the issue.
NFU chairman Tom Bradshaw welcomed the report, but said: “The ball is now in Defra’s court. Ministers must take these priority areas forward. But alongside this, other urgent action is needed to boost British farming, such as providing much-needed clarity and certainty on the future of the Sustainable Farming Incentive and doing the right thing on damaging inheritance tax changes.”
In the review, which was launched six months ago and twice delayed for publication, Baroness Batters warned that the sector faced a sharp rise in costs this year with severe drought and increasingly extreme weather.
Uncertainty over the closing of applications for the Permanent Farming Incentive Scheme – the main farming payment after Brexit – and proposed changes to inheritance tax had caused “significant” ongoing concern, with some farmers questioning the feasibility, let alone the profitability.
The government indicated it would not immediately respond formally to the report but insisted it was already taking action to help farmers.
Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds said: “When farming flourishes, the whole country benefits. British farmers are at the heart of our food security, our rural economy and the stewardship of our countryside.
“Baroness Batters’ review highlights the need for government, farming and the food industry to work closer together. The new Farming and Food Partnership Board will do exactly that.
“This is about serious action to remove barriers, unlock investment and improve food systems, so agribusinesses can grow, invest and plan for the future with confidence.”
Tory MP Matt Vickers said: “The report produced by Labor on the profitability of farming shows the brutal reality of Rachel Reeves’s family farming tax. Farmers say it is the biggest issue facing them – and they are scared of what might happen next.”