Adam Dance
Main Page: Adam Dance (Liberal Democrat - Yeovil)Department Debates - View all Adam Dance's debates with the HM Treasury
(1 day, 21 hours ago)
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Ben Maguire (North Cornwall) (LD)
It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Dr Murrison. I stand to speak on behalf of the 800 signatories of this petition from my constituency, and I also speak in this debate as chair of the all-party group on dairy. Almost all of the financial advice that farmers had sought until the Budget had included APR relief in their financial planning and how they would pass on their family farms to the next generation without this ill-thought-through tax. These changes will hit hundreds of family-run farms, many of which have been proudly looked after generation after generation by the same family. I must add that the mental health of my North Cornwall farmers has plummeted since this was introduced.
Adam Dance (Yeovil) (LD)
Farmers in my constituency have told me that the Government’s changes to agricultural property relief have damaged their mental health, and some of my constituents have taken their own life. Does my hon. Friend agree that, rather than worsening the mental health crisis in farming, the Government should address it by scrapping this family farm tax, investing properly in rural mental health services and establishing a national working group on suicide prevention, focusing on agricultural and veterinary occupations?
Ben Maguire
My hon. Friend will not be surprised to hear that I completely agree and wholeheartedly support those suggestions.
The changes have not even taken effect yet, but their harsh effects are already on show. If no full U-turn is on the horizon, surely we can urge the Minister, with one voice, to look for an alternative to this ill-thought-through tax. The change will not hit the wealthy investors that the Government have taken aim at.