Inheritance Tax: Family-owned Businesses Debate
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Graham Stringer
Main Page: Graham Stringer (Labour - Blackley and Middleton South)Department Debates - View all Graham Stringer's debates with the HM Treasury
Inheritance Tax: Family-owned Businesses
Graham Stringer Excerpts(3 weeks, 2 days ago)
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Susan Murray
I thank the hon. Member for raising that issue. I have seen the research and will refer to it later in my speech. That was a timely publication.
Graham Stringer (Blackley and Middleton South) (Lab)
I am grateful to the hon. Lady for being generous on this important issue. When she spoke about the contribution that family businesses make, she could have been talking about J. W. Lees, a brewery in my constituency that has a nearly 200-year history of making contributions to the local community and brewing very good beer, or to Joseph Holt, which is on the edge of my constituency. The Confederation of British Industry estimates that the proposed changes to business property relief will lose the Government nearly £1.9 billion. Does the hon. Lady agree that before the Government go through with the changes, they should have a consultation that looks at the impact on tax and local family businesses?
Susan Murray
I completely agree: it appears that there are many factors the Government have not taken into account.
The situation was brought home to me by a local company in my constituency: Archibald Young Ltd Founders and Engineers, a family-run foundry that has been operating in Kirkintilloch since 1959—not quite as long as the business mentioned by the hon. Member for Blackley and Middleton South (Graham Stringer). I thank Ian Young for sharing his company’s position and highlighting the vital role that it plays in defence by producing high-precision critical components. Since it was established, the company has grown steadily over three generations. At one time, Scotland had over 260 foundries; it now has 12, of which 11 are family-owned, and all are third generation.