West Worcestershire MP Dame Harriett Baldwin has called on the new Prime Minister to scrap the Family Farm Tax in a joint letter by MPs.
September 9 was Back British Farming Day, and the MP has highlighted the plight of the sector following the decision to hit thousands of family farms with Inheritance Tax at the 2024 Autumn Budget.
Dame Harriett met with a local farmers’ delegation at their protest in Westminster and the MP campaigned strongly against the policy to protect food security and the rural economy.
The Government partially U-turned a year later under Opposition pressure. Many farmers however continue to face an unaffordable tax bill that threatens their businesses.
Dame Harriett said: “Following the appalling tax raid announced at the first Labour Budget and subsequent climbdown, I am urging Mr Burnham to do the right thing and reverse the policy altogether to save the family farm.
“I regularly meet our local farmers and they tell me they are reluctant to invest in their businesses, have reduced their workforces and may have to stop farming altogether as a result of the Family Farm Tax.
“Agriculture directly employs 38,000 people in our region and supports many other rural businesses. But the countryside risks losing its fields, economy, and identity under Labour as the Government seeks to break up family farms, build over the land and ban trail hunting.
“The Government underestimated the damaging impacts of this change and the public outrage. With my Opposition colleagues and groups like the NFU, I will continue calling for a total reversal.