Environment Secretary Steve Reed said ‘it was hard to be sorry’ towards farmers for anxiety caused by Labour’s budget as he doubled down on taxing farmers 20 per cent on assets over £1million when they die.
The move has drawn a furious reaction from the farming community with 13,000 rural folk gridlocking central London on Tuesday.
The MP for Streatham and Croydon North was asked: “Are you going to apologise for the anxiety and frustration caused towards farmers?”
Mr Reed, 61, said: “I explained in my speech the reasons for taking the decisions we have taken in order to stabilise the economy and to create a context where farming businesses and food businesses can succeed and prosper in way that right now they feel they’re not.
“Stabilising the economy will make this country the best destination in the world for international investment and make our public services world class again.
“All of that helps rural communities.”
He was then asked: “But you’re not sorry?”
To which Mr Reed said: “We’re taking decisions because they are in the interest of every single part of the country.
“It’s hard to be sorry for trying to make this country’s economy work and public services work again.
“I want to make sure people hear the real facts about how many people will be affected by this specific change because the vast majority of farms will not be affected.”
Steve Reed speaking at the CLA conference this morning
PA
The former Lambeth Council leader’s remarks came after making a speech at the Country Land and Business Association’s conference in Westminster this morning.
In the speech, Mr Reed repeatedly said ‘the vast majority of farms won’t be affected’ by changes to inheritance tax while claiming ‘tough decisions’ needed to be made to fix the £22billion black hole left by the Conservatives.
He gave no indication the government was planning on backing down on inheritance tax or watering down any other measures introduced in the budget like an extra fertiliser tax and a tax on farm pick-up trucks.
Mr Reed was only heckled once as he gave his speech in what was largely a polite conference.
One moment of emotion came when a farmer said to the Defra Secretary: “I’m now facing a tax bill of £400,000. Can I afford it? No. But there is one sure way I can avoid it.
“That is, if between now and April 1 2026, I kill myself.
“If I was elderly, if I was infirm, if I had mental health issues, if I had financial worries that is an option I would seriously consider.
“So my question is, how many of the most vulnerable people in our rural communities will have to take their lives before you and Rachel Reeves understand the wretchedness of this policy that you have put upon us?”
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After an impromptu round of applause rippled around the room, Mr Reed responded: “I've explained the decisionwe’ve taken to try and support farming, not just for the current generation but the next generation.
“I said we want to listen, there’s no point saying were going to listen to you if we don't.
“You’ve [Victori Vyvan, President of the Country Land and Businesses Association] got my number, we’re in communication frequently, Tom Bradshaw [President, National Farming Union] the same.
“Let’s keep talking, we’ll listen. We have to have an eye on the future, this country can’t go on like how it was going on.
“We’ve become a basket case globally for international investment, our economy was stuck in a downward spiral, that doesn't help the elderly if we can’t fund the NHS, they disproportionately use it.
“It doesn't help the young generation if we can't fund the education and skills they need to succeed in their life
“I'm not pretending these decisions are easy. Of course we’ll listen.
“But the prize is for the long term. An economy that works for the future for every single person in every single part of this country including in our rural communities.”
The questions came after farmer John Charlesworth, 78, was found dead at his 70-acre farm in Barnsley, Yorkshire, 24 hours before the Budget.
His son Jonathan, 46, said the father-of-two ended his life as the prospect of his family losing the £2 million estate to Reeves’ tax hike was too much.
Mr Charlesworth’s son said hearing news of the Chancellor’s hike was the “final straw” for his father, who had been caring for his sick wife.
He said to Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves: “I would tell them they’ve killed my Dad. He didn’t know the details but all the scaremongering around it beforehand frightened him to death.
“He was the most kind-hearted person you’d ever meet, my Dad. He wouldn’t take any nonsense. He would do anything for anybody, I don’t think anyone had a bad word to say about my Dad.”
After Tuesday’s mass protest and Mr Reed’s refusal to back down today, the farming community will be formulating their next steps in the campaign against inheritance tax changes.
