Farming and Inheritance Tax

Debate between Andy MacNae and Josh Fenton-Glynn

Wednesday 4th December 2024 Commons Chamber

[Andy MacNae (Rossendale and Darwen) (Lab)]

As someone who lives on a farm, which is surrounded by farms, and whose family has farmed, and diversified, for generations, I add my voice to all those who have paid tribute to farmers for the crucial role they play in our economy. Many other hon. Members have said it more eloquently than I can, but let us all recognise the vital role of farms in our economy.

In common with colleagues, I met with farmers in the post-Budget period. Frankly, I was expecting a pretty hard time and there were some robust discussions, but they were also civil, constructive, informative and understanding. I pay tribute to the farmers and the NFU representatives who took that approach to the discussions. What most surprised me was how quickly the discussions immediately pivoted to the sense of anger, abandonment and betrayal that arose from the past 14 years, which have decimated the industry.

Fellow Members have described in detail—the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron) described the situation particularly well—the betrayal of Brexit, the spiralling energy and feed prices, the spiralling land costs, and the terrible trade deals that opened the doors to poor-quality imports, which undermined the very farming markets that Conservative Members claim to value. As we have heard already, that dire management resulted in over 12,000 farms and agribusinesses going out of business since 2010. That is a terrible, shocking, shameful legacy. For Conservative Members to now present themselves as the champions of farmers is outrageous. They have used the word “arrogance”, but that is what they have displayed—a refusal to reference, understand or learn from their own history and failings.

[Josh Fenton-Glynn (Calder Valley) (Lab)]

Conservative Members talk about being friends of the farmers but for the past 14 years they were not. It shows how little they care that only 18% of their parliamentary party is present for a debate that they have called—[Interruption.] Only 21 out of 120 Conservative Members.

[Andy MacNae]

It is amazing; one of my colleagues talked about “the green fields opposite” in reference to the empty Conservative Benches.

Given that background, it is no surprise that farmers are angry, worried and feeling vulnerable. I associate myself with the remarks made by the hon. Member for Tiverton and Minehead (Rachel Gilmour), who called for calm and sense in the debate. Emotive language, designed to sow fear and cause concern is irresponsible at the very least, so let us try to keep to the facts and keep things calm and reasonable.

The focus of Conservative Members seems to be family farms, but the phrase “family farm tax” immediately creates a sense of fear and targeting, which is completely wrong. With some sensible tax planning, £3 million of assets can be exempt. Many speeches have glanced over the importance of gifting rights. Let us take the scenario of a family farm, in its truest sense, that is to be passed between generations. Surely, gifting rights are a massive opportunity to avoid all inheritance tax and remove the sense of fear that Conservative Members are trying to create. Most of the rest of the country has to do that simple estate planning by default.