Government is ‘morally bankrupt’ on farmer tax 

Farmers are “furious” that the Government has refused to change its controversial inheritance tax plans, following an “unproductive” meeting, said the president of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU). 

Tom Bradshaw, and other representatives of the farming sector, met with James Murray, Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury, and Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner to discuss alternatives to the inheritance tax raid. But their suggestions seem to have fallen on deaf ears. 

Mr Bradshaw said: “The Government believes they are correct in the decisions they’ve made. Disappointment doesn’t begin to describe how I feel. They don’t care about the human or intergenerational impact. They don’t care about food production. This morally bankrupt position sits with this Government.” 

In last October’s Budget, the Government announced plans to introduce a 20% inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1m from April 2026, claiming only the wealthiest of farmers would be impacted. Farming groups say it will make thousands of small and medium-sized farms financially inviable. 

The NFU has proposed a clawback scheme that would mean tax is only charged once a farm is sold, rather than on inheritance. However, the proposal has been rejected by the Government. 

Mo Metcalf-Fisher, external affairs director at the Countryside Alliance, said: “If the Government won’t engage with farmers meaningfully, show compassion to farming families or take food security seriously, they should expect further demonstrations, more visits to the countryside scuppered and a continual drumbeat of campaigning in their constituencies. The public side with farmers in opposition to the disastrous family farm tax, not the Government.” 

Scottish Conservative MP for Gordon and Buchan, Harriet Cross, who has been a leading campaigner against the family farm tax, said: “The attitude of this Labour Government towards our farming sector is despicable. The arrogance of Keir Starmer, particularly with his comments on a range of farming issues over the past few weeks, has been appalling and this Treasury meeting proved to be no different. 

“The disdain shown by this Government is so bad that even the Tenant Farmers Association chief executive labelled it the most unproductive meeting he has had in his 28 years with the organisation. Labour must stop the political games and start to listen to the industry by reversing these devastating proposals to safeguard both farming and the nation’s food security before it’s too late.”