Inheritance Tax, National Insurance and VAT

Lord Thurlow Excerpts

Monday 27th January 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Thurlow (CB)]

My Lords, I will focus my comments on small farms, and refer to my entries in the register.

The impact of removing APR will engineer the collapse of many small family farms, as we have heard. They struggle to survive as it is. Who would have believed that our own Government would be the assassin? In our fragile countryside, the wider impact will include, among others, schools, shops, pubs, and rural engineering and other small businesses. We will witness the slow destruction of the social cohesion of these communities, which have survived for centuries. Small farms are not an anachronism; they are vital and important contributors. What do the Government think they are doing? This is a clear example of national self-harm from those elected to defend and protect.

It is also economically illiterate, as we have heard. It will raise little money spread over many years, yet the damage to families and communities will be irreversible. This astonishing naivety betrays ignorance of the sector within government. We should not forget that these families work longer hours than any politician or Defra bureaucrat. They are unpaid, often husband and wife teams simply trying to make a profit. They have no paid holidays and no index-linked pension. Government is responsible for assisting small farms with help and encouragement, not wilful destruction, and Labour promised it was business friendly.

What of food security and food miles? Have the Government forgotten climate change: the impact of aeroplanes criss-crossing the world every day, delivering food, much of which can be produced at home? As we heard, even the major supermarkets, which try to buy local, have written open letters asking the Government to think again. Paying IHT, even at reduced rates initially, will undeniably force the sale of small farms, destroying these small family businesses. Many Acts of Parliament are subject to monitoring and review. This is not a proposal which can be monitored or reviewed; it will be too late.