A British farmer has hit out at Chancellor Rachel Reeves for “ripping up” four decades worth of tax planning for his farm, following last year’s Budget statement.
Speaking to GB News, Farm Manager Tim Hayward accused Labour of “preying on the elderly and the ill” ahead of the next Budget, which Ms Reeves will unveil at the end of November.
Britons are expected to be inflicted with tax hikes on November 26.
Asked by Conservative Leader Kemi Badenoch if he could “rule out” tax rises during Prime Minister’s Questions, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer refused to confirm the policy.
Farm Manager Tim Hayward has hit out at Labour for ‘ripping up’ 40 years of tax planning on his farm
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PA / GB NEWS
One sector that has already been affected by tax rises is farming, with farmland no longer exempt from inheritance tax.
From April 2026, a tax of 20 per cent will apply to agricultural assets over £1 million.
Labour has cited a need to fill a black hole in public sector spending, but farmers fear it will be a hammer blow to future generations as they may be forced to sell their land to private equity firms and large corporations.
Delivering his verdict on Labour’s tax raid, Mr Hayward told GB News National Reporter Will Godley: “It’s basically ripped out 40 years of stable tax planning, and it just simply isn’t affordable.
Kemi Badenoch has called for Rachel Reeves to ‘get the axe’ if she hikes taxes for Britons in November’s Budget
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GB NEWS
“We would have to put aside all of our profits for the next 20 years just to pay the inheritance tax, and clearly no business can operate with no profit for 20 years.”
Asked what he hopes for from this year’s Budget, he added: “We’re hoping for some movement on the Annual Percentage Rate and Business Property Relief.
“Simply they do not work, despite the Government saying that they are fair, and that they’re not fair.”
Highlighting the state of his business following the 2024 Budget, Mr Hayward said: “At the moment they prey on the elderly and the terminally ill and in no way is that ever fair.
Mr Hayward told GB News that an ‘investigation’ into Rachel Reeves’s rental error should take place
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GB NEWS
“But everything we’ve worked for is hanging in the balance, and we’d like some changes on that.
“We’d also like to see some certainty on the funding, on the Sustainable Farming Incentive. That would also be the next thing we’d like.”
Asked by Will about Rachel Reeves’s rental scandal, in which it was revealed that she ” failed to obtain a licence” to let out her family home in south London, Mr Hayward demanded an investigation into her wrongdoing.
He told GB News: “Rules are rules, and if she’s breaking some rules, she needs to be investigated, it’s as simple as that.
“I’m very unhappy, and definitely an investigation needs to be in place, I would say.”
Ms Reeves told the PM she “sincerely apologised” for the “error” after alerting parliamentary authorities.
Responding to the error, Sir Keir confirmed that “further investigation is not necessary”.