Labour’s tax plans risk gutting the backbone of Yorkshire’s economy - Steven Mulholland

But that backbone is now under serious threat.

A recent Family Business UK report shows that Labour’s proposed changes to Business Property Relief (BPR) could wipe nearly £1bn from Yorkshire’s economy and put almost 15,000 jobs at risk. Across the country, the picture is even more stark, with the same analysis warning that the reforms could cost the UK up to 200,000 jobs by 2030.

The figures speak for themselves: these measures would decimate the lifeblood of our communities and economy.

The government’s proposals fail to understand the basic economics of family-run firms: these businesses are often asset-rich, but cash-poor. And when those assets are taxed as if they were liquid wealth, the result is catastrophic.

BPR exists for good reason. It recognises that in many family businesses - particularly in sectors such as construction, agriculture and manufacturing - value is tied up in physical assets.

In my own sector, construction plant-hire, that means the excavators, cranes and telehandlers that get Britain building. This equipment is expensive to buy and maintain, but without it, Labour’s infrastructure ambitions will stall before a single brick is laid.

Removing or capping BPR would force many family firms to sell off these core assets - or shut down altogether - just to meet the inheritance tax bill when the business changes hands.

A family-run plant-hire firm going under doesn’t just affect its staff. It impacts every site they supply, every apprentice they train and every contractor who depends on their kit.

In a place like Yorkshire, where the construction supply chain is still proudly rooted in family firms, this could be devastating.

And while small, family-run firms are asked to bear this burden, the largest corporations — often owned by global investors or private equity groups — will carry on unaffected. That’s not levelling the playing field. It’s tilting it against those who’ve spent decades building something for their communities and their children.

That isn’t just unfair - it’s economically reckless.

If Labour is serious about growth, it must think again. You can’t build a stronger economy by weakening the very firms that keep it running - and you don’t level up the country by making it harder for successful businesses to pass from one generation to the next.

Family-run firms aren’t looking for handouts or favours - just a tax system that reflects the realities they operate in and gives them the confidence to invest, employ working people and grow.

That requires a framework that supports long-term investment in people - not one that punishes it. Preserving Business Property Relief is a vital part of that. So too is ensuring that succession isn’t treated as a taxable event, but as a chance to safeguard continuity and stability.

Yorkshire has long been shaped by its family businesses. Now, more than ever, we need to protect them.

Steven Mulholland is CEO of the Construction Plant-hire Association.