More than 100 Labour MPs for rural areas are set to face the wrath of constituents when they head home this weekend after Rachel Reeves’s tax raid on family and tenant farmers.
As a backlash against the scrapping of exemptions for agricultural property grew, critics accused the Chancellor of ‘class war’ on those perceived to be wealthy landowners.
They also warned the move was a ‘national security’ threat because many family farms will be forced to sell land to pay HMRC, meaning domestic food production could plummet. Campaigners estimate that the change, axing Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief on farms worth more than £1million, could affect 70,000 farms. This is because farms would only have to be around 67 acres to be affected.
But the average UK farm is 217 acres, sparking warnings that family farms will eventually be killed off.
Sir Keir Starmer’s government delivered some of the largest non-war time tax increases in the UK’s history, with farmer’s bearing the brunt
Labour Chancellor Rachel Reeves (pictured) has been heavily criticised for her first budget in power
Meanwhile, Environment Secretary Steve Reed has been missing in action while he attends a United Nations ‘Biodiversity Conference’ in Colombia.
Tory business spokesman Kevin Hollinrake warned Labour MPs: ‘The members who are thinking of going back to their seat for a pint in a local pub and a chat to local farmers, I think I would think again.’
Greg Smith, Tory MP for Mid Buckinghamshire, described the Budget as a ‘full-frontal financial attack on our farmers’ as the issue was repeatedly raised in the Commons yesterday.
From April 2026, the first £1million of combined business and agricultural assets will continue to attract no inheritance tax.
But for assets over £1million, inheritance tax will apply with 50 per cent relief, at an effective rate of 20 per cent.
Tory business spokesman Kevin Hollinrake (pictured) has warned Labour MPs: ‘The members who are thinking of going back to their seat for a pint in a local pub and a chat to local farmers, I think I would think again’
Analysis by the Country Land and Business Association (CLBA) found that 114 Labour MPs represent rural constituencies following Labour’s election victory in July. Before this, they represented 22.
It means Sir Keir Starmer could face a considerable backbench rebellion. Last December, Mr Reed assured the National Farmers’ Union that Labour had ‘no plans’ to axe the tax breaks.
But Tory MP Jerome Mayhew, who represents Broadland and Fakenham in Norfolk, said: ‘This Government has shown how little its word is worth. They broke their promise to farmers and left family farmers of all sizes at risk of a mammoth inheritance tax bill.
The CLBA said: ‘The fear and anger felt by farmers and rural businesses cannot be overstated.’
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