A farmer has hit out at Labour’s inheritance tax changes, claiming Chancellor Rachel Reeves “doesn’t just want some of the harvest – she wants some of the farm.”
In her maiden Budget last month, Reeves announced changes to inheritance tax exemptions for farmers, now ensuring farms worth over £1million will face the levy.
From April 2026, these farms will face a 20 per cent inheritance tax charge through reforms to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief.
Speaking to GB News, Olly Harrison warned about the fragility of UK food production and supply chains.
Olly Harrison blasted the Labour government
GB News
He said: “You can take a few eggs off the chicken, but if you cut its head off, you’re not going to get any more eggs.
“If you’re going to take all the eggs, you need to be the one feeding the chicken.”
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The farmer, who has a significant social media following, emphasised the importance of securing public support before any potential future disruption, as protest are set to take place next week.
“I think the main thing is to get the public support so that if there is further action down the line, people understand why that’s happening,” he said.
“That’s very important. The government themselves have not realised how much food the UK farms produce and how fragile that supply chain is. So I think it’s important for them to realise that.”
“Then if there is disruption down the line caused by some of the same more militant ones, at least they understand. Otherwise the message would land quite badly, I think.”
Rachel Reeves introduced the hike in her budget
PA
According to analysis conducted by the Conservative Party, more than 100,000 farms could be affected by the inheritance tax changes.
The figures suggest that 102,041 of England’s 209,000 farm holdings could face the new charges within a generation.
Official Government estimates show that nearly half of farms in England (49 per cent) are worth over £1.5million.
And the average farm is worth £2.2million, the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has revealed.
Olly Harrison fumed at the rise
GB News
This means typical farms would face an inheritance tax bill of £140,000.
Labour has dismissed these claims as “scaremongering nonsense”, stating that less than 500 claims each year will be impacted.
