‘Labour becoming the cruel party’ over tax changes, warns farmer baroness

Labour is “almost becoming the cruel party” implicit inheritance taxation reforms impacting farmers, 1 of its peers has claimed.

Baroness Mallalieu, who joined farmers arsenic they marched connected Westminster connected Tuesday, claimed the caller Government was losing the spot of countryside communities.

At the Budget, Rachel Reeves announced reforms to inheritance taxation alleviation which mean farmers volition person to wage a 20% complaint connected onshore and spot they inherit worthy much than £1 million.

Ministers importune the changes volition impact lone the wealthiest 4th of landowners, but the National Farmers Union and different groups pass the interaction volition beryllium much wide and could impact British nutrient production.

We are astir becoming the cruel party

Baroness Mallalieu

The president of the Countryside Alliance, Lady Mallalieu told The Daily Telegraph newspaper: “It has taken the Labour Party 14 years to triumph backmost the spot of the countryside aft that past onslaught connected hunting.

“Since the past predetermination we person much than 100 MPs successful agrarian seats, but present we are making the aforesaid mistakes again.”

In a operation which echoes a statement Theresa May erstwhile utilized of the Tories arsenic the “nasty party”, Lady Mallalieu added: “We are astir becoming the cruel party.”

Sir Tony Blair’s archetypal Labour ministry is remembered among galore successful agrarian communities for the fox hunting ban, a measurement the Countryside Alliance opposed.

At the clip the contented roused choler among farmers and landowners successful a akin mode to the existent spot of feeling astir the inheritance taxation reforms.

Lady Mallalieu said the taxation changes are “not conscionable threatening farmers successful their pockets”.

“They are threatening their household and their home,” she said.

Speaking to the Telegraph, she said: “On the march, I heard determination person been 4 suicides already among farmers and, for me, the astir unpleasant broadside – and I don’t deliberation the Government thought astir this – is that they are saying to aged farmers, marque yourself dice earlier March 2026 to prevention your household from losing their home.”

On Friday, Sir Keir Starmer insisted his Government was supportive of farmers, arsenic good arsenic of pensioners, arsenic helium faced questions astir the taxation reforms and the determination to bounds wintertime substance payments to lone the poorest pensioners.

The Prime Minister told BBC Bristol: “We’re for moving radical who request to beryllium amended off, who’ve truly struggled implicit caller years.

“We’re for everybody who wants to and needs to trust connected the NHS, which is connected its knees, and we’ve got to prime it up and we volition and get those waiting lists down.

“We’re for the radical who perfectly request determination harmless and unafraid to unrecorded that they tin afford.

“All of that has to beryllium paid for.

“We are besides for the farmers and the pensioners.”

The Prime Minister besides reiterated his presumption that the immense bulk of farms volition beryllium “completely unaffected” by changes to cultivation inheritance tax.