A Welsh farmer has raged against Labour on GB News, hitting out at their “lies” over the inheritance tax plastered on the rural community in last year’s Budget.
Speaking to GB News star Patrick Christys, Rob Powell called on the Government to “move on and scrap” the tractor tax, which the agricultural community has consistently fought against since its introduction.
Plans to impose a 20 per cent levy on farming estates worth more than £1million from this coming April have attracted a slew of fuming farmers as they fear the taxes could close down their farms once and for all.
“The big impact is inheritance tax, isn’t it? And they brought it in. They promised that they wouldn’t bring it in,” Mr Powell fumed.
“We had leading politicians sat on our table and they said, no, they will not touch inheritance tax. Three months down the line. Bang.
“They’re giving nobody no time to adjust to it, especially the old and the terminally ill. They haven’t got time to change their farming system.
“Young farmers must be worried. Do they want to bother? This could cost them £1million. And myself? I got two sons.
“If I died after April, it would probably cost them in excess of £1million. That’s over £100,000 a year to find. Yeah, our farm doesn’t make £100,000.
‘Labour lied to us all,’ Mr Powell fumed
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GB NEWS
“But I think the most disappointing thing was the Labour MPs were told that they’re not going to bring in inheritance tax. They won rural seats by telling lies.”
“I’m not blaming the Labour MPs, but the hierarchy in Labour lied to us all, and I think that is totally unacceptable.
“Then they decided now to bring the APR (Agricultural Property Relief) in, which would be the total value of your stock, the machinery.
“So a medium to small sized farm would be over £300,000. So you’re a third of the way to £1million which is your allowance, at the moment isn’t it?
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PA
“They have altered it a little bit for partners. But I think that’s just a drop in the ocean. It’s not anywhere near enough.
“They really need to move on it and scrap it all together.”
Mr Powell explained how, along with the value of the land, farms require stock and machinery, so all of it together poses a challenge for farmers to carry out without selling off valuables.
“And once you start selling, you’re not as valuable as a business as you were to start,” he warned.
On Tuesday evening, MPs voted on the “tractor tax” when dozens of Labour MPs abstained, with one Labour backbencher being suspended after voting against the party line.
Instead, Markus Campbell-Savours voted with Conservative colleagues after his rebellion against plans to end the inheritance tax exemption on farms worth more than £1million.
On Labour’s first vote on the matter, they received 371 MPs’ support, but this figure dropped by 44 votes on Tuesday.
In the Parliament debate, Mr Campbell-Savours said: “There remain deep concerns about the proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR).
“Changes which leave many, not least elderly farmers, yet to make arrangements to transfer assets, devastated at the impact on their family farms.”