As farmers staged another protest in central London today, a third Labour MP has broken ranks on Labour’s controversial farm tax and called for his party to change the policy.
Henry Tufnell, Labour MP for the rural seat of Mid and South Pembrokeshire in South West Wales, said it was ‘embarrassing’ that he’d told farmers in his constituency his party would not touch inheritance tax, only to immediately break that pledge.
Chancellor Reeves slapped previously exempt farmers with death duties of 20 per cent on assets over £1million in her bombshell October budget.
The move sparked fury as farmers highlighted how, thanks to high land, house and machinery prices, even small farms would breach the £1m cap and be subjected to large tax bills.
Conservative Victoria Atkins defended Farmers Rally Against Labour’s Family Farm Tax today
GB NewsThey say farm profits, already squeezed to an unprecedented level by adverse weather, the war in Ukraine and Brexit, will not cover the new tax bills, leading to many farmers simply selling up.
This would damage the UK’s food security at a critical geopolitical moment, deprive young farmers of their livelihoods and invite faceless mega companies to buy up Britain as they don’t face inheritance tax every forty or so years and can benefit from net zero, off-setting schemes.
The government says it is ‘fair and balanced’ way to plug the Tories’ £22billion black hole and highlight the cap can rise to £3million if farming families fulfil certain criteria and exploit loopholes.
But as Tufnell’s deviation from the party line reveals, more and more voices within Labour are not buying the government’s justification, particularly as it was such a flagrant U-turn on Labour’s pre-election promise.
'Labour think farmers are Range Rover-driving plutocrats who can afford an inflated tax bill' - Colin BrazierGettyAs Tufnell explained: “We had said categorically as a party that there wouldn’t be any movement on inheritance tax.
“I stood on the platform where I said directly to farmers in my constituency that it was something that we weren’t going to pursue as a party. It’s embarrassing to say you’re going to do one thing and then do another.
“We’ve lost that trust and confidence of the farming sector. This is about the social fabric of the countryside.
“These men and women work incredibly hard. They get up incredibly early, face the wind, the rain, isolation, loneliness. We as a government have to respect that. It’s embedded into what we stood for, what we are as a party.”
Tufnell is advocating for the policy, which is set to come in in April 2026, to be tweaked rather than abolished entirely.
The 32-year-old wants to see older farmers exempt from the tax.
This is because for the last thirty years the best advice has been to retain the farm until death, so there are thousands of older farmers terrified of dying and saddling their children with huge tax bills.
In one announcement, with no prior warning at all, Reeves swept aside 30 years of advice, leaving little time for elderly farmers who have kept the nation fed to use the seven-year gifting rule.
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XAnother tweak Tufnell is seeking is raising the £1million cap. Academics, lobby groups, think tanks and tax experts have all challenged the Treasury on this cap being too low.
With land averaging £10,000 an acre, it would only take 100 acres to trigger the threshold, which is far below a commercially viable farm size.
This doesn't include machinery, farmhouse prices, barns and their value in potential brownfield site development.
Tufnell joins two other Labour MPs who have broken ranks and criticised Reeves’ plans, Steve Witherden (majority 3,815), MP for Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr, and Markus Campbell-Savours (majority 5,257), MP for Penrith and Solway.
Commentators have highlighted two of the three MPs are currently projected to lose their seats to Reform (Tufnell and Witherden) while Campbell-Savours is also under intense pressure from Farage’s party and the SNP.
With such a large majority and an election not due for four years, commentators have said it is unlikely the dissent will raise many eyebrows in Labour’s higher circles, but it can only take a few dominoes to fall before Labour has a major headache.
Victoria Vyvyan, President of the Country Land and Business Association, who has been at the forefront of the campaign, said: “The CLA will not give up, the entire industry will not give up, and we want answers: Why will the Chancellor not meet us?
“Why won’t the Treasury consider the 'clawback' alternative that has the tax take, solves the problems and which has industry support?
“How does this government expect farmers to pay inheritance tax bills without breaking up their businesses?"
A Government spokesperson said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast.
“This Government will invest £5 billion into farming over the next two years, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history. We are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.
“Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean three quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter will pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. This is a fair and balanced approach which helps fix the public services we all rely on.”
