'Show us farmers you have listened'

FARMER Stephen Wainwright has urged the Chancellor to increase the family farm tax threshold to £5million to show the Government is listening to the concerns of people like him.

- By Eleanor Burleigh

Stephen, 46, said the past 12 months under Labour have "changed his life" as he has watched his tax bill soar while working harder and harder to keep the business afloat.

He said the introduction of 20% inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth over £1m in last autumn's Budget had put the enterprise in financial peril - but he warned the issues run deeper.

A rise in cheaper foreign imports and high production costs has made things increasingly difficult, he said.

Stephen, whose family runs a 400-acre upland sheep and beef farm in Hope Valley, Derbyshire, said: "Everyone's in a difficult position, but upland farms have it even harder because we can't grow grass all year.