Harborough MP calls on Prime Minister to scrap family farm tax in first budget
Neil O’Brien, MP for Harborough, has added his name to a letter calling for the Prime Minister to reverse changes made to the family farm inheritance tax scheme.
The letter from Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Victoria Atkins MP and Harriet Cross MP has been signed by Conservative politicians warning Andy Burnham that the farming industry faces a “once in a generation crisis”.
Mr O’Brien claims more than 6,000 agricultural businesses have ceased trading since the family farm tax was announced in October 2024.
The letter was sent to the Prime Minister ahead of the Autumn Budget in October.
The MP said: “The farming sector is facing a once in a generation crisis because of Labour’s damaging Family Farm Tax.
“More than 6,000 agricultural businesses across the country have ceased trading and one in four have reduced their workforces since these cruel inheritance tax changes were announced.
“One in four family farms have already cut jobs because of Labour’s anti-farming inheritance tax changes. If the Prime Minister doesn’t change course, the consequences will be catastrophic.
“Farmers used to invest billions into growing the wider rural economy, including here in Harborough, Oadby and Wigston, but because of Labour’s anti-farming policies investment is falling as farmers look with fear and uncertainty to the future.”
He told the Prime Minister to “grow a backbone and use his first budget to fully reverse the farming inheritance changes before it’s too late.”