Clause 1
Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Robin Swann(1 day, 19 hours ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Dan Tomlinson
Conservative Members keep repeating, “14 months”. I should use that as an opportunity to remind people of the 14 wasted years that their party put farmers and rural communities through; of the trade deals that they implemented, which made life worse for our farmers and farming communities; and of the hundreds of millions of pounds that went underspent in the farming budgets over 14 years, and which could have benefited rural communities and farmers.
After continued engagement from Ministers across the Government, including in the Treasury and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, as well as the Prime Minister’s engagement with important representatives in this space, the Government made a change—the change that the Government amendments will enable this Committee to legislate for, if it wishes, and I do hope it does. This change will strengthen the public purse by around £300 million.
Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)
I want to take the Minister back to his earlier commitment on Scotland. Will the Government give the same commitment to farmers in Northern Ireland? We have a very different family farm structure from that in the rest of the United Kingdom, and the engagement of and representations by the Ulster Farmers’ Union and the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster should bring this Government to a realisation that their last proposals did not sit well with farmers across this United Kingdom.
Dan Tomlinson
A few weeks back, I had the pleasure of attending a Westminster Hall debate focused on farming and farmers in Northern Ireland. It was a good, productive debate, and I took away many of the points raised. The hon. Member will know that the Government have made a change to increase the threshold.
Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief
Debate between Dan Tomlinson and Robin Swann(1 week, 1 day ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Urgent Questions are proposed each morning by backbench MPs, and up to two may be selected each day by the Speaker. Chosen Urgent Questions are announced 30 minutes before Parliament sits each day.
Each Urgent Question requires a Government Minister to give a response on the debate topic.
This information is provided by Parallel Parliament and does not comprise part of the offical record
Dan Tomlinson
We heard what farmers were saying and that is why we have come forward with the changes we announced last month.
Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)
The Ulster Farmers’ Union and the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster made many representations here with regard to the damage that this policy would do to Northern Ireland farms, but there is one specific point I want to ask the Minister about. He has mentioned a number of times the allowance being passed between couples and civil partnerships. Example 2, in his own Government paper, states:
“Two people (such as siblings) who jointly own a farm will be able to pass on a farm up to £5.65 million”
under the allowance. If there is a father and daughter, uncle, aunt, niece and nephew in that partnership, can they pass on that allowance, too—seeing as he is the tax Minister?
Dan Tomlinson
They can each pass it on up to £2.5 million to whomever they choose to pass it on to. In the inheritance tax system more broadly, it is the case that the various bands and allowances are only fully transferable between spouses, and this is consistent with that policy. But it would be the case that if a farm was owned, say, by a brother and a sister, the brother could pass up to £2.5 million to whomever he wished and the sister could pass up to £2.5 million to whomever she wished. That is what example 2, which the hon. Gentleman is referring to, gets at.