BBC Question Time audience member slams inheritance tax moan - ‘smallest violin’

The Question Time sheet debated measures included successful the Budget to enforce inheritance taxation connected farms worthy much than £1million aft they received a backlash from farmers

A BBC Question Time assemblage subordinate has said helium volition person to find the "world's smallest violin" arsenic helium slammed farmers moaning astir inheritance taxation changes.

A antheral weighed successful connected a statement astir measures included successful the Budget to enforce inheritance taxation connected farms worthy much than £1million. Around 13,000 farmers and supporters rallied successful cardinal London this week to protestation the changes. Jeremy Clarkson, who was astatine the march, clashed with reporters aft helium was asked astir antecedently saying that avoiding inheritance taxation was the "critical thing" successful buying his 1,000 acre Diddly Squat farm adjacent Chipping Norton.

Speaking connected Thursday evening, the assemblage subordinate told the sheet of governmental figures: “I support proceeding this word cash-poor and asset-rich and my maths isn’t large but for £400,000 worthy of inheritance taxation and you person a £5million estate, I'm acrophobic you are gonna person to find maine the world's smallest violin to archer maine that you don't wage taxation connected an property that you’re passing down to your children of £5million. It sounds brainsick to me."

Tory MP and shadiness concern curate Harriet Baldwin said she has seen farmers "who were successful floods of tears for their their household livelihoods". She said: "All of the household farmers who privation to walk onto the adjacent procreation bash thing very, precise precious for us, and that is that they supply nutrient information to the UK."

She referenced a Clement Attlee operation from aft WWI, wherever we ran into nutrient information issues, and however helium vowed that the UK should ne'er find itself successful that presumption again. "So that, I think, is what makes this antithetic from the mean household who is caught successful an inheritance trap situation," she continued.

"These are radical who enactment nutrient connected our table, who supply the beverage successful our supermarkets, who are the radical who, who provender us, and truthful therefore, to instrumentality distant a 5th of their workplace each clip it changes generation, you tin spot how, implicit the agelong term, that is going to erode their ability, not lone to walk down the land, but truly importantly, to walk down those traditions of dairy farming, those traditions of arable farming."

The Government says astir 500 claims a twelvemonth are expected to beryllium affected - but this is hotly disputed by the farmers' union, who accidental it volition beryllium considerably more. On Friday Keir Starmer said the Government is "for farmers", arsenic helium reiterated his presumption that the bulk of farms volition not beryllium affected by cultivation inheritance taxation changes.

The PM said the immense bulk of farms volition beryllium "completely unaffected" by changes to cultivation inheritance tax, but added to BBC Radio Lincolnshire: "I bash recognize their concerns".

He continued: "Firstly, successful the Budget, we allocated £5billion implicit the adjacent 2 years to farming, that's the azygous biggest magnitude of wealth into sustainable nutrient production, that's hugely important for farmers, positive wealth for dealing with flooding, which is ever a problem, and the outbreak of disease.

"For the inheritance tax, obviously, what farmers privation to do, understandably, is marque definite that the household workplace is preserved. In a emblematic case, which is, you know, parents passing, initially to each other, to the different spouse, erstwhile 1 dies, and past connected to a child, truthful that's a emblematic case, the threshold earlier inheritance taxation is paid is £3 million... There aren't galore farms twelvemonth connected year, that are sold successful excess of that amount, and truthful that threshold is high. Vast bulk of husbandman s won't beryllium affected."

Asked connected BBC Radio Bristol astir the £3million threshold figure, and enactment to him that the Chancellor Rachel Reeves had said the threshold was £1million, helium said: "Well, determination is an allowance for the workplace onshore itself, which is £1 million. There's past an allowance spouse-to-spouse connected death, and past there's an allowance final, you know, surviving genitor to child. When you adhd each those up, each 3 of those, are precise apt to beryllium the lawsuit for a household farm."

He added: "When you adhd those 3 together. So that's your classic, emblematic household farm, it's £3 cardinal threshold."