Agricultural and Business Property Relief Debate
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Manuela Perteghella
Main Page: Manuela Perteghella (Liberal Democrat - Stratford-on-Avon)Department Debates - View all Manuela Perteghella's debates with the HM Treasury
Agricultural and Business Property Relief
Manuela Perteghella Excerpts(1 day, 13 hours ago)
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Graham Stuart
My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I spoke to another farmer in my constituency and his farm is owned by three people, one of whom is his father—who has a third of it—and who has been in ill health lately, is in his early 80s and is highly unlikely to live for the next seven years. All the planning that they responsibly put into ensuring that that farm continues to contribute to waterways, the environment, and the nation’s food security has been cast aside and turned over by this Government’s ill thought-out plans.
Manuela Perteghella (Stratford-on-Avon) (LD)
In my constituency, many family farms exceed the threshold due to the high value of the land and machinery. Does the right hon. Gentleman agree that these changes threaten to push family-run farms into the hands of large corporations and therefore both erode rural communities and jeopardise our domestic food security?
Graham Stuart
The hon. Lady is absolutely right: that is exactly what they will do. I am sure that it is not the Government’s intent to bolster the big international corporations and hurt the small player who is an embedded part of the community.
So many people I speak to genuinely try and run their farms to be supportive of nature and of local business. Once major corporations are involved, these will not care where they get their supplies from. They will not be focused on that.