Kemi Badenoch goes to war over Labour's 'cruel family farms tax'

Kemi Badenoch today blasted Labour's 'cruel family farms tax' as she demanded Sir Keir Starmer ditch changes to inheritance rules.

During her first appearance at PMQs as Tory leader, Ms Badenoch pledged to reverse the controversial Budget measures if her party returned to power.

Sir Keir is caught up in a row after Rachel Reeves last week announced that agricultural assets worth more than £1million will no longer be exempt from inheritance tax.

The Prime Minister and Chancellor have been warned the change, slated to come into force in April 2026, will devastate many family-run farms.

It has been claimed that a number of farmers are now looking to sell off land because they believe the new tax rules threaten the vialbility of their farms.

Previously, agricultural property tax relief allowed family farms - including land, buildings, and housing - to pass between generations tax-free.

Speaking in the House of Commons this afternoon, Ms Badenoch asked for the Government to 'reassure' farmers who are worried about the move.

'What does he say to farmers who are facing uncertainty about their futures as a result of the increased taxes announced by the Chancellor?,' she asked the PM.

Ms Badenoch added that the Tories would 'reverse Labour's cruel family farms tax'.

Moments before the new Conservative leader had claimed the PM's 'scripted lines are showing that he has not even listened to the Budget himself'.

Sir Keir responded: 'I'm happy to help the leader of the Opposition. If she's going to complain about scripted answers, it's probably best not to read that from a script.

'I'm glad she's raised farmers. Because the budget last week put £5 billion over the next two years into farming. That's the single biggest increase, unlike the £300 million which was underspent under the last government.

'But when it comes to inheritance, the vast vast majority of farmers will be unaffected, as she well knows; as they well know.'

From April 2026, a tax of 20 per cent will be raised on the value of inherited farming assets above £1 million - although the Chancellor has said that in some cases the threshold could in practice be about £3million.

While this still represents a tax relief of 50 per cent compared with the standard rate, the move has been attacked by farming unions and Opposition MPs who have argued it would make Britain more reliant on imports.

Earlier, Britain's farmers launched their first protest against Labour's farm inheritance tax rule changes, amid fears a strike could cause shortages on supermarket shelves. 

Banners reading 'No farmers, no food, no future' were held at the Northern Farming Conference in Hexham, Northumberland, as anger grows at the shock tax raid. 

Critics argue it will make British farms uncompetitive - and, as the backlash continues to intensify, a group of plotters are now considering strike dates around a rally being organised by the National Farmers' Union (NFU) in Westminster on November 19.

Merseyside arable farmer Olly Harrison, an unofficial spokesman for the group, told MailOnline today: 'Never before have farmers been so united - sadly it's in anger over this issue and they will not take it lying down, especially after the worst harvest ever. 

The YouTube and Instagram star added: 'Most don't do this job for the money, they do it for the kids, and taking this right away through poorly thought out Government policy is horrifying. We already risk our home with the weather every day playing snakes and ladders, and now the Government has just cut the rungs off the ladders. 

'This decision has already proved itself to be costing farmers more than money, with reports of at least four suicides that I'm currently aware of. It urgently needs to be reconsidered.'

Mr Harrison also told The Times: 'They say we are only ever four meals away from anarchy.

'What Rachel Reeves doesn't understand is how fragile the food supply chain is, and we saw in Covid how it only took a few days of panic buying to cause shortages.

'If we stop goods leaving farms for a day or two it will happen faster than you think.'

Mr Harrison added that there would be no strike action just yet, given that the US presidential election is currently 'taking up all the headlines' – and there were also no plans to 'interfere' with Remembrance Day or 'wreck' Christmas.

He was speaking after a farmer's son accused the Prime Minister of having 'blood on his hands' over the inheritance tax raid after his father's apparent suicide 24 hours before the budget.
John Charlesworth, 78, ran a 70-acre farm on the outskirts of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, which had been in the grandfather-of-six's family since the 1950s.
But pre-Budget chatter predicting the tax raid had 'eaten away' at him, according to his 46-year-old son Jonathan, who has been running the farm in recent years.

Mr Charlesworth Jr told the Daily Mail: 'I'm not sure you could publish what I'd say to [Sir Keir Starmer]. He's got blood on his hands. He's totally destroying an industry we rely on.' 

He also said worries about the impact of inheritance tax was his father's 'main topic' of conversation in recent weeks, adding: 'This Government has absolutely zero understanding of agriculture.

'They think we're just jumped-up millionaires riding around in Land Rovers but that's not true. This Government has killed ambition – what's the point of building up a business if it's all going to be taken away?'

Mr Charlesworth Jr also told the Daily Telegraph: 'I think [my father] just woke up and thought, 'You know what, the Government aren't taking our farm, I've worked too hard to keep this for… my kids and my grandkids'.'

Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer's official spokesman said today: 'Losing anyone to suicide is a tragedy and our sincere thoughts and condolences are with Mr Charlesworth's family and friends.' 

What changes to farm inheritance tax were revealed in the Budget?

Under plans announced in the Budget, inheritance tax will be charged at 20 per cent on agricultural assets above £1million, although Rachel Reeves has said that in some cases the threshold could in practice be about £3million.

The 20 per cent figure still represents a relief of 50 per cent compared to the standard rate. But there are fears it will make British farms uncompetitive. 

The Chancellor used her first Budget last Wednesday to announce a change to agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR) from April 2026 in a bid to secure more money for public services.

Budget documents state the Government wants to restrict the 'generosity' of APR and BPR for the 'wealthiest estates'.

The first £1million of combined business and agricultural assets will continue to attract no inheritance tax.

But for assets over £1million, inheritance tax will apply with 50 per cent relief, at an effective rate of 20 per cent.

The Chancellor said 'only a very small number of agricultural properties' will be affected, although the National Farmers' Union warned the reforms could force farmers to sell their family farms to pay the inheritance tax bill.

Ms Reeves said many 'difficult decisions' were needed in the Budget in order to fix public services and place the economy on a firmer footing.

It has also emerged some farmers are threatening to stop spreading biosolids - known as sewage sludge and made from treated human waste - on their land as fertiliser in protest at Labour's plans.

The strike could be hugely disruptive for water treatment companies and could create a mountain of waste, according to the Daily Telegraph.

Reports claimed that in online message forums, farmers are encouraging others to contact their sludge suppliers and notify them of a temporary halt to all deliveries.

Every year, farmers in the UK take about 3.6million tonnes of sewage sludge from water treatment plants and spread it on agricultural land.

Yesterday, it also emerged that farmers could end up paying thousands of pounds more in car tax after a loophole that benefits pick-up truck drivers was closed in the Budget.

Vehicles such as the Ford Ranger and Nissan Navara will be classed as cars rather than vans from next April when the benefit-in-kind tax break for commercial vehicles ends, the paper reported.

It comes after the new shadow environment secretary said the 'crass decision' to remove some inheritance tax relief for farms had betrayed the Government's lack of knowledge about the countryside.

Victoria Atkins said the move had 'consigned family farms and businesses to being sold off and split up as families cannot afford massive tax bills'.

Writing in the Telegraph, she added: 'This is a serious mistake that Labour has made in their Budget. Their lack of understanding of the realities of farming was revealed in the crass decision to slash years of careful tax policy to keep family farms intact and protected from inheritance tax.'

She suggested the move would make the UK more reliant on imports, adding: 'If farmers have to set aside money for a potential tax raid rather than investing in the farm, it will no doubt impact food production, increase prices and make British farmers less competitive.'

Ms Reeves has defended her proposed reforms to inheritance tax on farms by claiming it is not 'affordable' to keep the current system.

Meanwhile one of the UK's largest animal feed producers yesterday warned that the changes will have a 'negative' impact on food security.

George Weston, boss of Associated British Foods, which supplies farmers with feed and technology services, said the taxes on farms pose a threat to the country's ability to grow its own food.

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He said: 'It's only the latest of a series of pressures that have been imposed on particularly our large scale farmers from whom we get most of our food.

'If we are to grow more of our own food and benefit from the food security of growing things ourselves, then I think policymakers have got to create a more attractive environment for that farming community.

'These changes to inheritance tax obviously operate in a very different direction.'

Mr Weston added: 'I don't think that government decision makers, for some while, have really thought about what you need to do to maintain a viable farming community, without which is very hard to maintain a good level of food security.'

AB Foods, which also owns fashion retailer Primark, sells to farmers and food manufacturers in more than 100 countries, including feed ingredients for livestock.

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Tom Bradshaw, the president of the NFU, has warned that three quarters of the food produced by British farmers will be hit by the tax raid.

He said it was logical to assume that this also meant that 75 per cent of the food they produce would cost more, impacting food security.

After last Wednesday's announcement, farmers took to social media to share their horror at the tax hike which they said threatens to end family farming in Britain.

They also called the move 'bonkers' and warned that unaffordable tax bills faced by the inheritors of family farms will lead to them going under.

Emma Gray, a shepherdess from Argyll and Bute in Scotland, declared the policy 'a disgusting land grab'.

'A lot of family farms are going to go under when they have to pay the death duties,' she said in a TikTok video.

'And you might think a farm being worth £2million sounds like a lot of money, but a lot of the time the person who has the farm has already been paying out siblings who also have a stake in the farm.

'So they spend their whole life paying it off and are ready to pass it on to the next generation - but now they're going to be hit with inheritance tax, which is going to make the whole thing completely unaffordable.

'What's going to happen is farmers won't be able to pass their farms onto the next generation - at least not easily - so they'll come onto the market and be snapped up by non farmers like those big corporations who want to offset their carbon.'

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