North Yorkshire farmers rally against inheritance tax plans
The NFU has organised a national day of Unity in support of farmers
North Yorkshire farmers are joining the NFU’s National Day of Unity today (25th January) in protest against Government plans to introduce inheritance tax on land worth over £1million.
Yorkshire farmers and growers will gather in front of Selby Abbey between 10am and 1pm
There will be tractors on display, locally produced food and donations will be collected for Selby food bank.
NFU member and event organiser Richard Bramley an arable farmer based near York, said: “I think it’s massively important that we as farmers connect with the general public and help them to realise that the family farm tax issue is something that will impact everyone.
“The tax could lead to small and medium-sized family farms going out of business and this will impact the entire rural economy; it could lead to food price rises in supermarkets, it would seriously harm farmers’ ability to deliver national food security and the huge amount of great work many farmers are doing to support the environment and protect the countryside would likely discontinue.”
“There is a great deal of public support out there for farmers and we really want to take the opportunity to thank people for that.”
What do the Government say?
A government spokesperson said: “Our commitment to farmers remains steadfast.
“This Government will invest £5 billion into farming over the next two years, the largest budget for sustainable food production in our country’s history. We are going further with reforms to boost profits for farmers by backing British produce and reforming planning rules on farms to support food production.
“Our reform to Agricultural and Business Property Relief will mean estates will pay a reduced effective inheritance tax rate of 20%, rather than standard 40%, and payments can be spread over 10 years, interest-free. This is a fair and balanced approach, which fixes the public services we all rely on, affecting around 500 estates a year.”