Anyone who has listened to Jeremy Clarkson or Kaleb Cooper recently will know that farming in the UK is already on the brink. Farmers work relentlessly, face razor-thin profit margins, and struggle to keep family farms running in a system rigged against them. Then along comes Rachel Reeves and wipes away what little hope remained for these hard-working families.
The pressures on UK farming are enormous. Between rising costs, burdensome regulations, and relentless bureaucratic hurdles, making any profit at all has become nearly impossible. Inheritance tax (IHT), a critical factor in the continuity of family-owned farms, has become one of the last nails in the coffin.
Yet Labour’s budget goes even further, launching a brutal attack on British agriculture and rural communities with changes that will devastate family-owned farms. While family farms receive a limited concession, taxed at 20% after the £1 million allowance, this still isn’t enough to keep most farms viable once passed down to the next generation. Labour’s latest proposal, however, would drag even more farms into this tax trap.
Family farms make up roughly 98% of all farms in the UK, anchoring local economies, sustaining communities, and bolstering national food security. With Labour’s inheritance tax changes, these small farms are being squeezed out of existence. Rachel Reeves and her team don’t seem to grasp the unique nature of farming .
This land is not an “asset” in the way urban bureaucrats unde.