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Backbenchers argued the measure failed to tackle "abuse by the celebrities and the billionaires" who buy farmland to avoid paying a full inheritance tax bill
George Thompson,Will Durrant,Rhiannon JamesTuesday 02 December 2025 20:53 GMT
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Labour MPs have urged the government to reconsider its plans to impose inheritance tax on farmers, despite the House of Commons voting in support of the proposal.
Markus Campbell-Savours, the Labour MP for Penrith and Solway, indicated he would vote against Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s tax changes, telling the Commons he had to do all he could for his community.
Backbenchers argued that most farmers are "not wealthy land barons" and that the measure failed to tackle "abuse by the celebrities and the billionaires" who buy farmland to avoid paying a full inheritance tax bill.
Treasury minister James Murray, however, insisted the changes made in the Budget are a "fair way forward".
MPs voted 327 to 182, majority 145, in support of the Government’s plans.
Speaking in the Commons Budget debate on Tuesday, Mr Campbell-Savours said: “There remain deep concerns about the proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR).
“Members across the House have made the case against these changes, changes which leave many, not least elderly farmers, yet to make arrangements to transfer assets, devastated at the impact on their family farms.
open image in galleryFarmers staged protests in Whitehall, London, over changes to the inheritance tax rules affecting farmers (Jordan Pettitt/PA)“Many farmers feared this was coming. Some transferred in advance. Others contacted Labour candidates who reassured them, based on public commitments from the then shadow secretary of state for Defra, that APR would not be touched.
“I was one of those Labour candidates, and it’s for that reason I’ll be voting against the Budget resolution enabling these changes.”
Mr Campbell-Savours said he wants to be able to walk around his community “knowing I did all I could for them”, and could not do so if he broke his word.
In the Budget, the Chancellor announced that any of a £1 million APR and business property relief allowance that goes unused will be transferable between spouses and civil partners.
However, this has not stopped criticism from the farming community, which has fiercely opposed the changes since they were proposed in last year’s budget, with the introduction of a 20 per cent rate on agricultural land and businesses worth more than £1 million.
Samantha Niblett, Labour MP for South Derbyshire, welcomed concessions for married couples in the Budget but said: “I do plead with the Government to look again at APR inheritance tax.
“Most farmers are not wealthy land barons, they live hand to mouth on tiny, sometimes non-existent profit margins.
“Many were explicitly advised not to hand over their farm to children, (but) now face enormous unexpected tax bills.
“We must acknowledge a difficult truth: we have lost the trust of our farmers, and they deserve our utmost respect, our honesty and our unwavering support.”
open image in galleryMPs voted 327 to 182, majority 145, in support of the Government’s plans on inheritance tax (Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire)Terry Jermy, Labour MP for South West Norfolk, said Ms Reeves’s Budget has failed to tackle the “abuse by the celebrities and the billionaires” who buy farmland to avoid paying a full inheritance tax bill.
Labour MP Chris Hinchliff (North East Hertfordshire) asked Treasury minister James Murray whether the Government would “take immediate action” if changes to agricultural property relief led to farm closures.
Mr Murray replied: “The changes that we’ve set out to agricultural property relief are a fair way forward.
“They represent generous relief to people whilst raising money for the public finances, and at this Budget, the Chancellor announced that any unused £1 million allowance for the 100% rate of agricultural property relief and business property relief will be transferable between spouses and civil partners.”
Mr Murray insisted the Chancellor “took fair choices on tax, that protected investment in our public services and that made our economy more secure”.
Before the Budget vote, the National Farming Union (NFU) called on Labour MPs to abstain from the vote and “show that they truly back the working people of the countryside”.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: “Without change, the family farm tax will trap the most vulnerable members of our community, the elderly and terminally ill, with no ability to plan. It’s inhumane and it’s cruel.”
