NFU President says farmers 'want to be militant' over Labour's inheritance tax changes

Under the proposals inheritance tax will be charged at 20 per cent on farms worth more than £1 million, in a major reform of agricultural property relief (APR).

Previously farmers were exempt from paying inheritance tax.

The Chancellor has said that in some cases the threshold could in practice be about £3 million, if couples combine their own personal inheritance tax allowances when passing on their land.

Mr Bradshaw met with Environment Secretary Steve Reed and Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury James Murray yesterday.

After the meeting, he said: “We will continue to try and work with the Government to get to a resolution but something has to change.

“I have never seen the weight of support, the strength of feeling and anger that there is in this industry today.

“Many of them want to be militant.

“Now we are not encouraging that in any way shape or form, but Government need to understand that there is a real strength of feeling behind what this change means for the future of family farming in this country.”

Yesterday, Mr Bradshaw also disputed claims from the Treasury that the changes to APR will only affect 27 per cent of claimants.

The Yorkshire Post understands that this includes people with allotments and small holdings, and does not take into account couples including their own inheritance tax allowance.

The NFU says that figures from the Department for Farming, the Environment and Rural Affairs show that around two-thirds of farmers could be hit, while the CLA claims around 70,000 farms may be affected.

Mr Bradshaw said: “Obviously, we fully dispute the figures the Treasury has been using and we’ve played back Defra’s own figures.

“How they can have that wide a discrepancy within Government is quite unbelievable.”

He said there had been no resolution on the issue, adding: “We’ve made very passionately our perception clear, that this tax change is completely unfair.

“It had been ruled out by the secretary of state in the run-up to the election and now there are many family farms right across the United Kingdom that are worried for their future.”

The NFU added that many family farms have a high notional asset value, but very low income and liquidity, which means that the vast majority of owners would be unable to meet the inheritance tax charges, without selling assets.

Speaking after the meeting, a government spokesperson said its “commitment to our farmers remains steadfast”. 

“It’s why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production,” they said.

The spokesperson added that “we understand concerns about changes” to APR, saying: “Ministers made clear that the vast majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. 

“They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done. 

“This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. We remain committed to working with the NFU and listening to farmers.”