Labour's inheritance tax raid has sparked a series of protests by farmers (Image: Getty)
Labour is carrying out an "assault on rural Britain", Kemi Badenoch has warned. The Tory leader launched a fresh attack on Sir Keir Starmer's government over its "cruel" and "unnecessary" inheritance tax raid as she visited a family farm in her North West Essex constituency today.
Labour has faced an ongoing backlash for slapping inheritance tax on farms worth over ￡1 million in the autumn budget. Writing in the Daily Express, the leader of the Opposition said: "Before last year’s general election, Keir Starmer looked farmers in the eye and promised he would protect their way of life.
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Read more: Labour urged to give farmers 12-month amnesty over inheritance tax raid
"A year later and this Labour government is conducting an assault on rural Britain.
"It started with the family farms tax, the deeply damaging inheritance tax policy in Labour’s first budget that threatens the very existence of family farms, passed down from generation to generation.
"I have spoken to countless farmers across the country since Rachel Reeves announced her changes to Agricultural Property Relief, and they all tell me the same thing – they don’t think the Labour Party understands that farming is not just a job, it is a way of life and a deeply rooted tradition. Labour are destroying this tradition."
Mrs Badenoch, whose grandfather was a farmer, insisted that farming "is the backbone of this nation and must be cherished, and without it we cannot eat".
She added: "By contrast, Labour are risking the country’s entire food security for less than 0.01% of total government spending."
Calling for a U-turn on the policy, Mrs Badenoch went on: "Labour’s family farm tax is cruel, unnecessary and fundamentally wrong.
"It must be scrapped immediately. If this government will not listen, then the next Conservative government will act."
The Tory leader's blistering intervention comes after she visited Sam Goddard, 37, at his arable farm in Little Walden, Essex, today.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch speaks with farmer Sam Goddard during her visit on Tuesday (Image: PA)
Speaking to the Express, the fourth-generation farmer said he feared for the future of his family business.
Mr Goddard said: "It does leave us very worried for the future of the farm in the sense that it's not possible to see how the business as it currently functions could survive even really one generational change, let alone two.
"When you think that we've been farming this land for multiple generations, four in my case, it's very sad to think that a policy like this would bring that sort of heritage to an end.
"I don't know if that's the purpose of it but that's certainly what it's going to do.
"In that sense it is destroying family farms, or it will do, over the course of a number of years."
Mr Goddard, who grows wheat for products such as biscuits and cereal as well as animal feed, said the policy would have a "huge impact" on his farm.
He said: "Effectively the rate of it and the value of the farmland that we use to produce food means that on the death of a family member we'll be left with an inheritance tax bill even spread over 10 years that actually results in payments higher than the profits of the farm.
"So even if we were to borrow money or spread those payments out over 10 years it will still mean effectively either no salary as family members for 10 years and no investment in any machinery or improvements to the farm in that time.
"What that means is that some assets would have to be sold, effectively selling part of the factory floor, which obviously decreases the viability of the business overall. You've got the same machinery, the same overheads, and less ability to produce food, so it's going to have a huge impact."
The 37-year-old added that he was "hopeful" for a U-turn at the upcoming autumn budget.
He said: "I think what we need Starmer and Reeves to realise is the amount of damage that this policy is already doing even before it comes into force, even before farmers start to die and pass their family farms down to the next generation.
"It's doing a lot of damage already. It's stopping people from investing, it's stopping people from growing their businesses.
"They need to realise this is not going to be revenue raiser for the Treasury, it's going to cost them money because the agricultural industry is stagnating and shrinking.
"They need to do a U-turn, they need to put in place at the very least a delay, or a more sensible version of this policy.
"Really it should be scrapped altogether to allow farms to stay as multigenerational businesses, which is what they need to be in order to provide long-term food supply to the country."
The Tory leader visits Sam Goddard's farm in her North West Essex constituency (Image: PA)
Chancellor Rachel Reeves sparked fury from farmers after restricting the current 100% inheritance tax relief for farms to the first ￡1 million of combined agricultural and business property, or up to ￡3 million in certain circumstances, in the autumn budget last October.
Under the plans, there will be a 20% levy above that threshold, which is half the standard inheritance tax rate of 40%.
The changes, which have prompted a series of major protests in London, are due to come into force next April.
But campaigners have warned the policy could spell the end of family farms across the country, while there have been reports of desperate farmers pushed to the brink of suicide.
Critics have also raised fears over the impact of the plans on UK food security.
The tax break had allowed farms, which are often asset-rich but cash-poor, to be handed down through generations without incurring a bill.
The changes have been criticised by other opposition parties including Nigel Farage's Reform UK and the Lib Dems.
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Kemi Badenoch warns Keir Starmer over income tax raid to fill ￡51bn blackhole
Rachel Reeves eyes limit on amount YOU can gift before death in fresh tax hell for Britons
Labour to hit families with tax raid on pensions pots of deceased loved ones
Inheritance tax rate and gifting rules explained as Rachel Reeves considers raid
Rachel Reeves causes fresh confusion over inheritance tax changes
'Labour abandoning farmers when they need support the most'
HMRC catches out almost 1,200 more families in inheritance tax crackdown
Migrant housing scandal erupts as ministers set aside ￡500m to close asylum hotels
11 tax rises Labour is 'most likely' to announce in Rachel Reeves' Autumn Budget
Little-known tax rule means you will get big HMRC bill if you have this many children
Rachel Reeves thinks tax hikes will fix her ￡51bn black hole - here's why they won't
Disaster for Rachel Reeves as thousands of bosses flee Britain
Rachel Reeves leaves businesses 'paralysed by fear' with new barriers to growth
'Act now' warning issued as Rachel Reeves eyes 'targeted moves' on pensions and property
Vinnie Jones warns government off ‘sticking their nose' into countryside
Labour is conducting an assault on rural Britain with cruel family farm tax
REVEALED: How Labour is lying through its teeth to justify programme of total tax warfare
Rachel Reeves is now your ‘favourite child' due to inheritance tax pension rules
Labour has stopped doing one thing - it's bleak clue as to where UK is heading
Eight taxes Rachel Reeves could target to plug ￡40bn hole in Autumn Budget
Kemi Badenoch warns Keir Starmer over income tax raid to fill ￡51bn blackhole
Rachel Reeves eyes limit on amount YOU can gift before death in fresh tax hell for Britons
Labour to hit families with tax raid on pensions pots of deceased loved ones
Inheritance tax rate and gifting rules explained as Rachel Reeves considers raid
Rachel Reeves causes fresh confusion over inheritance tax changes
'Labour abandoning farmers when they need support the most'
HMRC catches out almost 1,200 more families in inheritance tax crackdown
Migrant housing scandal erupts as ministers set aside ￡500m to close asylum hotels
11 tax rises Labour is 'most likely' to announce in Rachel Reeves' Autumn Budget
Little-known tax rule means you will get big HMRC bill if you have this many children
Rachel Reeves thinks tax hikes will fix her ￡51bn black hole - here's why they won't
Disaster for Rachel Reeves as thousands of bosses flee Britain
Rachel Reeves leaves businesses 'paralysed by fear' with new barriers to growth
'Act now' warning issued as Rachel Reeves eyes 'targeted moves' on pensions and property
Vinnie Jones warns government off ‘sticking their nose' into countryside
Labour is conducting an assault on rural Britain with cruel family farm tax
REVEALED: How Labour is lying through its teeth to justify programme of total tax warfare
Rachel Reeves is now your ‘favourite child' due to inheritance tax pension rules
Labour has stopped doing one thing - it's bleak clue as to where UK is heading
Eight taxes Rachel Reeves could target to plug ￡40bn hole in Autumn Budget
Kemi Badenoch warns Keir Starmer over income tax raid to fill ￡51bn blackhole
Rachel Reeves eyes limit on amount YOU can gift before death in fresh tax hell for Britons
Labour to hit families with tax raid on pensions pots of deceased loved ones
Inheritance tax rate and gifting rules explained as Rachel Reeves considers raid
Rachel Reeves causes fresh confusion over inheritance tax changes
'Labour abandoning farmers when they need support the most'
HMRC catches out almost 1,200 more families in inheritance tax crackdown
The Daily Express has been campaigning for a U-turn with our Save Britain's Family Farm crusade.
A Government spokesperson said: “Our commitment to farming and food security is steadfast. We’ve allocated a record ￡11.8 billion to sustainable farming and have appointed former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters to recommend new reforms to boost farmers’ profits.
“Most estates claiming Agricultural and Business Property Reliefs will be unaffected by the changes. The latest data shows that 40% of Agricultural Property Relief - worth ￡219m - was directed to just 117 estates. The money raised will go towards public services we all rely on every day instead.”
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