Clause 1

Robin Swann Excerpts

Monday 12th January 2026 Commons Chamber

[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.

--- Later in debate ---

[Carla Lockhart]

I thank my hon. Friend for his intervention. Indeed, 25% will still be hit, including some world-class producers in Northern Ireland. The dairy sector will be hit hardest because of our land values, which I will speak about now.

New clause 7 seeks to address a glaring omission in the Government’s approach: the failure to index-link or uprate the APR allowance. Agricultural land values have risen sharply over many years. In recent months, land in my constituency of Upper Bann was sold for £32,000 per acre, demonstrating the value of land in Northern Ireland and the impact that this Bill will have on our farms. Those land values do not arise from the effort of the farmer, and farm incomes have not kept pace. A static threshold in a rising land market guarantees that more and more family farms will be dragged into the inheritance tax net year after year. Index-linking is not radical; it is common sense—something that this Government appear to be lacking.

In the same spirit, I also want to highlight amendment 43, which would retain 100% business property relief where a property has been owned for at least 10 years as part of a genuine, actively operated family business. It recognises long-term stewardship and intergenerational responsibility, and it draws a clear distinction between established family enterprises and short-term or speculative ownership. If the Government’s aim is—as they have stated—to target avoidance rather than to punish genuine businesses, then this amendment deserves serious consideration.

There is a profound unfairness at the heart of this policy, which the Government have yet to explain or justify. A single farmer receives a £2.5 million threshold, while a married couple can pass on £5 million free of inheritance tax. Two identical farms of identical value can face vastly different tax outcomes purely on the basis of their ownership structure.

[Robin Swann]

That is an important point, and one that the Minister needs to clarify. The Government’s online advice actually says that it is not simply a married couple or those in a civil partnership; it says:

“Two people (such as siblings) who jointly own a farm will be able to pass on a farm up to £5.65 million tax free.”

The Government have to provide clarity on that.