Political opinion: Farm Tax changes 'a welcome step', says UUP's Holmes

Councillor Holmes, a member of Causeway Coast and Glens Council, said: “It has taken a year of lobbying by the Farmers’ Unions and politicians amongst others to effect this change. The changes made to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) in the 2024 Budget were billed as “fixing the foundations” by Chancellor Rachel Reeves, but instead it rocked the farming community to its very core.

“Labour’s economic strategy has descended into chaos. Climb downs over pensioner winter fuel payments and cuts to benefits have left them in disarray. Their focus on growth is the very antithesis of the policies they are implementing. Rising wage and labour costs due to Government policies has seen unemployment rise continually since they took office.

“Sadly, this latest Labour climb down came too late for one farming family in Barnsley. The 78-year-old farmer took his own life the day before the October 2024 budget. The inquest heard he had been “growing more and more anxious about inheritance tax and the implications for the farm”. The stress within the farming community has been palpable.

“The increase in the threshold from £1 million to £2.5 million will bring comfort to many farming families, particularly in the mouth of Christmas. This will relieve many local farms of the APR burden, but the immoral family farm tax still needs to be abolished.

“Farms are asset rich and cash poor. No farmer ever thinks of himself as the owner of the farm, rather as a custodian for the next generation. A farmer always farms for his sons. What has been so cruel about the family farm tax is that whilst a family are mourning the death of a father, they were also having to think about borrowing money or selling land to pay Rachel Reeves and HMRC.

"This government may know the price of a pint of milk, but they will never know its cost,” said Councillor Holmes.