Farmers urge Andy Burnham to make good on inheritance tax pledge
During his by-election campaign in Makerfield, Andy Burnham said: “I personally have heard from farmers on family farms and I do think that needs looking at again.”
Farming groups have urged Andy Burnham to make good on his promise to “look again” at Labour’s controversial inheritance tax changes.
In her first budget in 2024, Rachel Reeves announced she was reforming agricultural (APR) and business property relief (BPR), the discount to allow farms and family businesses to be passed down through the generations.
The Chancellor said she was introducing a discounted rate on businesses valued at over £1m, a hugely contentious move that farmers said would force them to sell off land and change the fabric of the British countryside for good.
One inquest revealed that a farmer had taken his own life when worried about the deadline earlier this year. Just before Christmas, the Government announced that it was increasing the threshold to £2.5m, with married couples allowed to combine their relief to £5m.
During his by-election campaign in Makerfield, Mr Burnham said: “I personally have heard from farmers on family farms and I do think that needs looking at again.”
The former Greater Manchester mayor is likely to enter Downing Street in less than a fortnight.
Country Land and Business Association director north Harriet Ranson said: “We work closely with the Labour Rural Research Group, supplying evidence of policy impacts on the rural economy and businesses by offering solutions to farming, nature and wider rural challenges.
“I trust that the Labour MPs on the LRRG will be central to shaping Andy Burnham’s agenda about food, farming and the wider rural economy.
“To date, he has made several commitments to the farming and food sector such as pledging to revisit the growth-inhibiting inheritance tax on farms, as well as directing the public sector to procure food more locally.
“Reforming the public sector procurement of food and other resources such as steel and defence, are long overdue and could be hugely beneficial to our farmers and national food security.
“It is my sincere hope that our ‘prime minister in waiting’ will appreciate the entrepreneurial attitudes and business brains that make up the rural economy and work with us to strengthen food production, nature recovery and the valued skills of the communities we represent.”