Graham has vowed to stand up for farmers following the catastrophic measures laid down in the Budget on Wednesday, including taxing the very concept of the family farm out of existence.
In Wednesday’s Budget of Broken Promises the Chancellor told the House of Commons that the government would impose 50% relief (Agricultural Property Relief or APR) on Inheritance Tax on farms valued at over £1 million – an effective 20% rate.
Farms valued at under £1 million will continue to benefit from full inheritance tax relief.
In 2023, Sir Keir Starmer told the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) that “Every day seems to bring a new existential risk to British farming.
“Losing a farm is not like losing any other business, you can’t come back.
“That’s why the lack of urgency from the government, the lack of attention to detail, the lack of long-term planning – it’s not on. You deserve better than that.”
He has gone back on this solemn promise to farmers, with NFU president Tom Bradshaw calling the Budget “disastrous” for family farms and tenant farmers, and called the breaking of “clear promises” on Agricultural Property Relief “shameless”.
The National Farmers’ Union has said the £1 million threshold is the approximate value of a ‘nice house with a pony paddock’.
With land values at between £10,000-£15,000 an acre, very few profitable working farms would fall under that threshold, despite the Chancellor claiming that only a quarter of small family farms will be affected.
The measures are calculated to raise £500 million – a drop in the ocean in the government’s projected tax take of around £1,200 billion.
With food security of great concern to the UK, this will lead to more farmers selling up.
It’s clear to Graham that the government hasn’t considered the impact of these measures on small farmers.
In addition to the Inheritance Tax being imposed on farms, farmers are also furious at changes to the Basic Payment Scheme (BPS), a legacy EU subsidy to farmers.
The scheme is set to be replaced by the Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme, which had been due to be phased in in full in 2027.
Recipients will now see 76% of their base amount removed in 2025, that is for crops planted this autumn.
Farmers receiving up to £30,000 will have 76% removed, but anything above that threshold will be cut entirely.
A farmer who originally received £100,000 in the BPS will now receive no more than £8,000.
This has a clear impact on planned cash flows for farms, making it much harder to run these businesses.
The government has announced that it will renege on plans, introduced by the previous Conservative government, to continue to treat double cab pick ups, the workhorse of farms across the country, as commercial vehicles. They will now be treated as company cars.
This is on top of rises in the National Living Wage and Employer National Insurance Contributions which will affect farms just like any other business.
Graham will continue to work with farmers and the NFU to fight for what farmers deserve.
Graham said: “In the Budget of Broken Promises, the Prime Minister's promise to farmers has been smashed to smithereens.
“This Labour government doesn’t care about farming – it only cares about perpetuating its callous and cruel class war.
“I’m certain that the Prime Minister will come to learn, in time, that you can’t tell a bare-faced lie to farmers, and I’ll be teaching him that very lesson at every opportunity.”
Angela Kirkwood, NFU Representative for the East Riding, said: “Family Farms are the backbone of the British Countryside and rural economy.
“I am asking our government to amend their budget announcements to protect the future of British farmers and food production.”
ENDS
Notes to the Editor
