Having spent 14 months belittling and ignoring farmers and their concerns, the Government has sneaked out a partial U-turn on this devastating death tax.
Labour has announced it’ll raise the threshold for its Family Farm Tax and Family Business Tax, saving hundreds from having to break up their family farms to pay inheritance tax.
This decision has not come because the Government was overcome with the Christmas spirit, but instead, it is the result of a relentless campaign by farmers.
This is an important win for rural communities all across the UK. Before its implementation, this tax was already destroying livelihoods, threatening our nation’s food security, and causing unbelievable stress and anguish to the people who feed the nation.
For many, it will mean they can enjoy Christmas without the threat of this tax looming overhead. Indeed, for some, it will mean no longer contemplating this festive season being the last for their elderly relatives.
But it sadly does not fix everything, and it cannot heal the harm already done.
Countless times over the last 14 months, Conservative MPs and I have stood up in the House of Commons to demand answers from Ministers about the awful human cost of their vindictive Family Farm Tax.
There is the father of two small children who took his life in fear of the tax, the 92-year-old grandmother who had told her family calmly that she would not be here in April because she wanted to beat the tax deadline and the awful case of a teenager who walked in to find his father’s body.
These people will not forget or forgive the Government for partially reversing a policy that they knew was costing lives. Even the Prime Minister last week admitted he knew that this was what the policy was doing.
Labour’s inheritance tax U-turn is cold comfort to the children now growing up without dads - Victoria Atkins | Getty Images
And for others not included in this U-turn, they will be left wondering why this Government has decided their farm isn’t worth saving.
They will still be desperately trying to crunch the numbers to find out what losing a loved one after April 2026 will mean for the survival of their family farm and business.
I want to thank the thousands of farmers who have left their farms to attend protests, the tens of thousands who have written to Labour MPs to demand change, the 300,000 people across the country who signed the Conservative Party’s petition to axe the tax, and GB News and their viewers for their continued efforts to fight this vindictive tax.
Today we achieved an important win, but the fight isn’t over. The Conservatives will continue our fight both inside and outside of Parliament to axe the Family Farm Tax and Family Business Taxes entirely.
Farmers and family businesses are the best of Britain: hard-working, responsible, family-focused, committed to passing something on to the next generation. The Conservatives will always stand by them.
More From GB News