Thank you to those constituents who continue to share their concerns with me about the farming community and the importance of protecting our working farms.
Family farms and tenant farms are an intrinsic part of our national identity and I have always worked to actively support our farmers who are the backbone of the rural economy as well as stewards of the British countryside. As many of you are aware, I come from a family with a strong farming background myself and am proud to represent these hard-working men, women and families, especially in my constituency.
I was, and remain, extremely concerned by the Government’s announcement in the Budget to make changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR) which is being referred to as the Family Farm Tax. Their intransigence on this matter beggars belief.
Many people in this constituency have contacted me to share their deep dismay at this attack on the British farming community. I have also heard from many local farmers directly on the personal toll this is taking on their families so I was glad to join with them in solidarity in November and again in February, for the Farmers Rally in Westminster to urge the Government to listen, and at further events in Westminster.
Mims Davies MP joins Farmers in Parliament Square | Mims Davies
I was also very pleased to vote on 4 December in support of the Official Opposition’s motion which called for an immediate reverse to this vindictive tax.
The Government announced in the Budget several measures which will negatively impact farming and rural communities such as speeding up the delinking of payments, introducing a fertiliser tax and changes to APR and BPR. The changes to APR and BPR will mean that from 6 April 2026, the full 100 per cent relief from inheritance tax will be restricted to the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property. Above this amount, farmers will pay inheritance tax at 20 per cent.
Farming organisations including the National Farmers Union, Countryside Alliance, Tenant Farmers Association and The Country Land and Business Association have all raised serious concerns about the harm this will cause to family farms and tenant farmers. The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers has also recently reported that up to 75,000 individual owners of farming businesses could expect to be affected over the coming generation, before considering the effect of inflation due to this change. That is the equivalent of five times the Government’s figure of 500 affected for the single year of 2026/27. They go on to say that,
'even allowing for almost any plausible margin of error, it is reasonable for large numbers of farmers to expect to be adversely affected.'
We should be under no illusion these changes will see family farms split up and sold off. Families will lose their livelihoods and homes and there is no guarantee land sold will be used to grow food, risking food prices increases, more food being imported, and the countryside being concreted over. Indeed, in the Future of Farming debate, David Mundell MP (Conservative) pointed out,
‘Given the value of land, it is being bought up by private equity firms and pension funds for use in industrial tree production or solar farms. Land is lost to food production as a result of such developments.’
Unfortunately, the Labour Government is yet to listen to rural communities and change course. It was extremely disappointing that, when the Opposition forced a vote on the Family Farm Tax, not a single Labour Member of Parliament voted to support farmers or rural communities. Instead, they chose party politics and showed that they do not understand British farming or care about the countryside.
I do not envy them having to go back to their constituents to explain yet another serious misjudgement.
Alongside the Family Farm tax, attention was also given to the abrupt closure of the SFI scheme, food security, industrialised farming, the NI hikes, the double cab pick-up tax and concerns around Government plans to undercut property rights and force farmers to sell their land at below market value in the upcoming Planning and Infrastructure Bill.
I have provided a link to the debate on the Future of Farming held on the 13th of March here: Farming - Hansard - UK Parliament
Sadly, I greatly agree with the words of my colleague Dr Caroline Johnson MP when she said,
‘This is a debate on the future of farming. Many farmers in my constituency feel that, thanks to this Labour Government, they have no future in farming.’
You may also be interested in this round up:
Economic and planning policies: Impact on farming and rural communities - House of Lords Library
