If farmers check the facts, they’ll realise our tax changes are fair
Our farmers are the backbone of Britain.
They put nutritious food on our tables to feed the nation. They have stewarded our beautiful countryside for centuries.
Our Labour Government’s commitment to Britain’s farmers is steadfast because we recognise that food security is national security.
That is why we are investing £5 billion in farmers over the next two years – the biggest budget for sustainable farming in our country’s history.
That is the right choice after the Conservatives left farming confidence at record lows.
Kemi Badenoch’s Conservatives sold British farmers out in trade deals with New Zealand and Australia by allowing the import of meat products produced to welfare and environmental standards so low they would be illegal in the UK.
They left farmers facing spiralling energy bills because they refused to invest in cheaper home-grown British power, a decision that also sent costs for fertiliser and animal feed soaring.
The Conservatives were so incompetent they failed to get £300 million earmarked for farmers out the door – leaving farmers out of pocket as the money sat idly in the Treasury’s coffers.
And their disastrous kamikaze budget that crashed Britain’s economy sent interest rates and mortgages skyrocketing at massive cost to our farmers and rural communities.
As a result, our public services are broken. Hospital waiting lists have hit record highs. Schools in rural areas are crumbling. Roads across country areas are cratered with potholes. Rural communities have been ignored and left behind like never before.
Labour’s Budget had to make tough choices to fill the Tories’ £22 billion black hole in the public finances.
But we will make those choices fairly and ensure those with the broadest shoulders bear the heaviest load.
Since 1992, owners of agricultural land have been able to pass it on after death free of any inheritance tax. This makes it different to other valuable assets.
As a result, wealthy individuals from non-farming backgrounds have been buying up land to avoid their own inheritance tax. This has forced up rural land prices, robbing young farmers of the dream of owning their own farm.
Around 40 per cent of the value of this tax loophole has gone to just 7 per cent of landowners. It’s become the most effective way for the super-rich to avoid paying their inheritance tax – and it’s costing other taxpayers a whopping £200m a year.
This is money that should be invested in our schools, health services, transport and other public services that farmers and families in rural communities rely on.
This isn’t fair, so Labour is asking rich estates and the most valuable farms to pay their share.
Small family farms will not be affected. Only about 500 estates a year will pay more under the new scheme than they do today.
Most farm-owning couples are able to pass on up to £3 million without paying any inheritance tax at all. Anything beyond that will be taxed at half the rate paid by everyone else, and their heirs can spread the payment over ten years instead of having to pay it all at once. This is fair and balanced.
It’s disappointing that the Conservatives have chosen to make false claims that thousands of smaller farmers will be affected. This is just scaremongering.
It was the Conservatives who crashed the economy, creating the crisis that made this change necessary in the first place.
Our Labour Government will never forget the massive contribution farmers make to our great country.
That is why we are offering a new deal for British farmers with a bigger sustainable farming budget, financial help for flood damage, faster planning decisions, action on rural crime.
We will protect farmers in future trade deals, use the Government’s purchasing power to buy British produce, and make the food supply chain fairer so producers get the fair deal the Conservatives denied them.
I know change can cause uncertainty, but if farmers check the facts they’ll see this change is fair and proportionate for everyone.
Steve Reed is Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs