Opinion: Cambridgeshire farming leader joins 11th-hour plea to Prime Minister for rethink on ‘cruel and devastating’ family farm tax
A Cambridgeshire farming leader is backing calls for the government to reconsider its family farm tax plans as more than 100 organisations have made an 11th-hour plea to the Prime Minister.
More than 100 businesses, retailers and trade bodies across the food and farming supply chain, including the NFU, have written an open letter to Sir Keir Starmer, which outlines how the unjust and unfair tax will impact thousands of working people running family farms. Unless changed, it stands to have severe unintended consequences, such as farms being forced to sell off land and core business assets to fund significant and unexpected tax bills.
The letter also highlights how several solutions have been put forward by independent experts to mitigate the impact of the proposed changes on farming businesses, which will scupper their ability to deliver for employment, local communities and above all, national economic growth.
NFU Cambridgeshire Chair Alison Morris, who farms near March, said: “We call on the government to take the opportunity in next week's Budget to re-set its relationship with Britain's farmers and growers.
“The government's plans to reform inheritance tax sent seismic shockwaves throughout the industry when they were first announced in last year's Autumn Budget.
“They have managed to instantly curtail new investment and pose a real threat to the future of small and medium-sized family farms, including many here in Cambridgeshire who have fed the nation for generations.
“The government's proposals do nothing to tackle the issue of people buying land just to avoid tax which was their stated objective, and they mercilessly punish elderly farmers who through no fault of their own, have been given no time to make changes to their businesses to mitigate against the impact of this cruel family farm tax and are now facing heartbreaking situations.
“I urge the government to engage with us and make changes to this poorly thought out and seriously miscalculated policy.
“It is not too late to avoid the devastation the family farm tax could create.
“They must work with us to understand agriculture and enable us to help the government achieve its ambitions to grow the economy.”