Tatton MP Esther McVey, who represents residents in Lymm, gives her views on the controversial changes to inheritance tax
The decision to change inheritance rules for farms won’t just affect our farmers.
It will put food security at risk, see the UK more reliant on imports and damage local businesses.
It will also see any food that is produced increase in price, hitting all consumers whether that be prices you pay in restaurants or at the checkout for your weekly shop.
Like many things that have happened since July 4, this Labour government has given little or no thought to the devastating consequences of its actions.
Last week I arranged and hosted a meeting with my local farmers and the National Farmers’ Union at The Crown in Lower Peover, and as I am writing this, I am preparing to meet other farmers at two more events this week; an NFU action day in London and The Farming Forum’s rally.
Every farmer I have spoken to has said the government’s budget is catastrophic for family-run farms and rural communities.
The main issue is changes to decade old rules which exempted family farmers from inheritance tax. I completely oppose this change and want the rules to stay as they are to protect our family farms.
Labour said it wouldn’t tax working people and that the party’s spending plans did not require any more taxes other than those set out during the election campaign – which now we now know to be untrue.
Farms worth more than £1 million will no longer be exempt from paying the tax (when passing on landholdings to family).
And while that may sound like a huge amount of money, to put it in context of farming it is estimated that just 100 acres of land could be enough land to reach the threshold of paying tax.
To make a business viable farmers say they need upwards of 200 acres and for many it runs into thousands of acres.
For most the only way to pay the inheritance tax bill will be to sell off parts of the land, which in many cases leaves the business unviable.
Government claims the changes will only affect 28 per cent of farms but NFU said the actual numbers are nearer 77 per cent.
The huge discrepancy is because government is including all small holdings in its calculations, so if someone had an acre with a couple of sheep that is classed as a 'farm'.
Farmers are horrified about the lack of understanding from government. They are infuriated they are being targeted and are clear many businesses will not survive.
The events in Parliament this week are about showing strength of feeling against these Labour tax changes that will destroy generations from taking over their family farms, which are an integral part of rural Britain.
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