On 19th November an estimated 10,000 people took to the streets outside parliament, generations of farmers alike, to protest the recent changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR). The movement saw the escalation of hostility towards the new Labour government from the UK agriculture community who say that the government has targeted an industry already on its knees. The government insists that the new 20% inheritance tax for farms with a net worth of over £1m will only affect a handful of farms across the UK, however the turnout and volume of voices that descended upon Westminster last Monday may suggest otherwise.
In 2023 GOV.UK measured that nearly 500,000 people were employed within the UK agricultural sector. But with a fall in the future security of the sector we could see serious complications in coming years. The implications of the policy will see a fall in UK food security, increased unemployment in the sector, and significant effects to investment in the industry. Moreover, this means a decrease in productivity. Land markets will be impacted, and, with farms facing the costs of the inheritance tax, banks will have to re-evaluate their relationships with farmers.
We have to ask: does the government understand the consequences of their actions?
The industry faces a stagnation of progression, not only with inheritance, but also within research and development, which supports the quality of British food. Farmers are famously asset rich and cash poor. But with liquidity tied up in machinery and assets that allow them to do their job, increased tax on their businesses and livelihoods will damn the future of the industry. We have to ask: does the government understand the consequences of their actions?
The NFU claim that more than 250,000 people have backed their campaign to reverse the family farm tax, suggesting that public opinion is swaying against the government. However, whilst this is an emotional cause for many family farms across the UK, public opinion is contested. On a recent episode of Newswatch presenter Samira Ahmed gave light to a certain public opinion that seems to support the governments increased tax on farmers. Viewers of the program wrote in noting that media coverage had been too favourable towards farmers. A Newswatch viewer by the name of Robin Petherbridge noted that there was little to no justification for the tax or support for the government's decisions reflected in BBC and media coverage.
The public perception of British Farmers is somehow skewed, manifesting in some imaginations as an image of wealthy land owners escaping tax. The reality however, is substantially different. Family farms, run by hardworking people will see the effects of this policy. The likelihood that labour will make a famous British U-turn in policy is small. There is an obvious clash between what the public views are on the new taxation policy. Whilst this is food for thought, it may be dangerous to plough down the industry whose livelihood supplies the flour in the scones of Labour’s afternoon tea.
