The inheritance tax rule change for farmers was brought into question on GB News once more yesterday with former Tony Blair adviser John McTernan shockingly claiming the country “doesn’t need” small farms.
Under Labour’s policy, the 100 per cent relief for family farms would be limited to the first £1 million of both agricultural and business property.
For anything above that, landowners will pay a 20 per cent tax rate, rather than the standard 40 per cent rate of inheritance tax on other land and property.
McTernan sparked fury when discussing the changes on GB News yesterday by claiming the UK could do without small farms.
The former Labour man told Patrick Christys he is in favour of rule changes which clamp down on farmers
GB NEWS
“This is a change clamping down on tax avoidance”, he said.
“Farmers still get a privileged status for their farms and for me personally, I’m in favour of doing what Margaret Thatcher did to the miners.”
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Boris Johnson lashed out at the ‘dumb’ inheritance tax changes
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He added: “It’s an industry we could do without.”
A perplexed Patrick Christys questioned: “So you would do to farmers what Margaret Thatcher did to the miners which was use heavy-handed police tactics, followed by putting them out of business?”
McTernan responded: “If people are so upset that they want to go in the streets and spray slurry on them, then we don’t need the small farmers.”
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson hit out at the planned changes, telling GB News it was a “really dumb thing to do” by the Labour Government.
“We are struggling to keep people on land and make sure that farmers are incentivised to hand over their business to their descendants”, he said.
“My own family were in the same position and I can tell you, it’s an absolute nightmare.”
Asked if he would attend the planned farmers’ protest, he said: “I haven’t been invited to this protest, I’m obviously not in favour of breaking the law.
“If this protest involves squirting slurry language at Labour politicians, obviously I won’t support it.
“If I am around and I happen to see a tractor, I’m not excluding the possibility that I would strongly sympathise with the driver of that tractor.
“Because I think it’s mad. It’s absolutely mad. I don’t know why they’ve done it.”
