‘Going to destroy us!’ Farmer warns small farms will ‘disappear like the dodo’ after Labour’s tax changes

Small family farms will ‘disappear like the dodo’ with Labour’s tax changes, it has been claimed.

GB News’s East Midlands reporter Will Hollis spoke to farmers in Melton Mowbray to gauge the sentiment for Budget changes that will see 100 per cent relief for family farms limited to the first £1 million of both agricultural and business property.

Julie Ball told GB News about how her family, who are the farm’s fourth and fifth generation, have been incensed by the decision.

“I’m really, really angry. It’s going to destroy the small family farm”, she said.

“It’s going to put people out of jobs and our generation is going to disappear. It will disappear like the dodo.

“It’s absolutely appalling. With the new inheritance tax changes, there won’t be a farm to run, we will have to sell up. It’s absolutely terrible.”

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She added: “We’re one of over 13,000 small family farms that will go out of business, it just isn’t good enough.

“We protect the countryside, we produce food, we produce leisure and enjoyment. It’s just not fair.

“Starmer and Reeves have got to look at this again and raise the threshold so it affects only larger big companies that can afford to pay it.”

Labour has sought to play down the perceived negative impacts of he changes, with Environment Secretary Steve Reed urging farmers not to “believe every alarming claim or headline”.

The minister said the Government is “committed to ensuring the future of family farms”.

Reed told MPs: “The House is aware that this Government inherited a catastrophic £22 billion black hole in the nation’s finances, meaning we’ve had to take tough decisions on tax, welfare and spending to protect the payslips of working people.

“This has required reforms to agricultural property relief (APR).

“Now I recognise many farmers are feeling anxious about these changes.

“I would urge them not to believe every alarming claim or headline, and I reassure them that this Government is listening to them.

“We are committed to ensuring the future of family farms.

“The vast majority of farmers will not be affected at all by the changes.”

He added: “Our reforms will put a stop to wealthy individuals buying up agricultural land to avoid inheritance tax, and in the process of doing that, pricing younger farmers out of buying land for themselves and for their families.”