Farm tax outrage must not be forced down the agenda

NOT A day passes without the headlines being dominated by the latest Government crisis.

- Duncan Barkes

Record numbers of illegal migrants, striking doctors, increasing inflation, rising unemployment figures and countless U-turns all show Sir Keir Starmer lacks the grip and gumption to run Britain.

Tempting as it is to continually highlight the track record of this most dangerous and damaging Government, we must not forget the plight of our farmers and their ongoing fight against the changes outlined in the Budget to inheritance tax.

Dubbed the “Family Farms Tax”, this new policy would rip farming families apart through the application of inheritance tax at the rate of 20% on farms worth more than £1million. It will make it financially punishing, if not impossible, for farmers to pass on land to their children, as family farms tend to be asset rich, but cash poor.

To stump up the tax for our increasingly greedy administration, the land would have to be sold. The Government remains stoic in its view that three quarters of farmers will pay nothing, yet these figures remain robustly contested by campaigners and those who will be affected by the changes.

I know who I believe.