Farming and Inheritance Tax

Will the shadow Minister give way?

In a moment.

Since the Budget, the Central Association of Agricultural Valuers has analysed...

Will the right hon. Member give way?

I will in a minute.

I am told by advisers that some farmers choose to use BPR only because ...

I commend the shadow Minister for bringing forward the debate. The collective decision to have th...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for intervening. The evidence is building again and again against the ...

The right hon. Member left a trail of destruction across the Government. She was the Health Secre...

Order. I know that Members are jeering about reading. I know that when I came to the House it was...

rose—

On a point of order, Mr Speaker.

I have a point of order—from the shadow Minister’s good friend, of course.

This point of order is spontaneous, unlike that intervention. [Interruption.] I am Mr Spontaneity...

As I expected, spontaneity did not make it a point of order.

As the first female Prime Minister said, if they are going after you personally, it means you are...

rose—

I will give way to the hon. Lady. I hope that she does not fall into the category that I just des...

The right hon. Lady talks about the figures. Does she accept that her Government’s record was one...

I thank the hon. Lady sincerely for raising that point, because she has—perhaps unwittingly—ident...

Does my right hon. Friend agree that what is quite frightening about this policy is that perhaps ...

My right hon. Friend, who has a wonderful way with words, asks a question that many members of ru...

rose—

I will give way to my right hon. Friend and neighbour and then I will make some progress.

As my right hon. Friend has said, the word “betrayal” is fitting because, long before the electio...

Order. The right hon. Member is a very experienced Member of this House, and he knows that he is ...

Mr Speaker, I know that you, as a man of integrity and honour, will be as disappointed as I am th...

It is a great pleasure to have the right hon. Gentleman not just as a friend but as my Lincolnshi...

As a farmer’s wife, I understand the emotional impact that my right hon. Friend sets out so clear...

My hon. Friend and Lincolnshire neighbour sets out exactly the personal impact of the tax. I know...

The shadow Secretary of State made an important point about the health and wellbeing of our farme...

Do not worry; I will deal with that. I thank the hon. Gentleman for raising the important issue o...

I have consulted widely with farming communities and farmers in my constituency. I have not been ...

I sincerely thank my right hon. Friend for setting out clearly the choice ahead of Members across...

The right hon. Lady talked about choices and backing farmers. The current Leader of the Oppositio...

I am pretty sure that the hon. Gentleman has his facts wrong about the then Trade Secretary. The ...

We do not have much trade with the Chagos islands.

My right hon. Friend is right to highlight the devastating effect of this policy and to highlight...

I thank my hon. Friend for that point. There is some interesting polling coming out today, which ...

I can assure the right hon. Lady that so am I.

Very much so, Mr Speaker. I will give way to the hon. Member for Hexham (Joe Morris). Is he going...

I commend the right hon. Lady’s commitment to honesty. She talks about giving Labour Members adva...

I am so sorry—in fairness, the hon. Gentleman was obviously speaking to farmers in his constituen...

One word that the right hon. Lady has not mentioned is Brexit—the great Tory disaster of the last...

The hon. Gentleman and I, unusually, can join forces on this matter. While I am going to resist t...

Order. You are facing totally the wrong way—I cannot pick up anything. Please turn around.

My apologies, Mr Speaker. I am reminded of paragraph 4.11 of the CAAV report, which sets out the ...

I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from “House” to the end of the Question and add:

“...

The hon. Gentleman will want to explain this, Mr Speaker. The Government have argued that only 27...

I point the right hon. Gentleman to the letter the Chancellor recently sent to the Treasury Commi...

At Treasury questions yesterday, I raised with the hon. Gentleman the case of Upper Peppershill f...

It is not appropriate for me, as a Minister, to give specific tax advice to one family, but I wil...

On the general principle, is the Minister seriously saying that all the tax advisers advising all...

What I am explaining is that the data for claims through HMRC, which shows the claims made under ...

I would like to make a bit of progress to explain some of the detail behind our policy, which may...

I am grateful to the Minister for giving way. That was why the law was changed to introduce 100% ...

To address the right hon. Gentleman’s point, we recognise that agricultural and business property...

Let me tell the Minister what concerns me most. There has not been an impact assessment, but if t...

I reassure the right hon. Gentleman, for whom I have a lot of respect personally, that we careful...

I am very grateful to the Minister for giving way. He has just referred to his analysis of four y...

We know that individual circumstances will vary. Any individual who is concerned about their spec...

The Minister seems to be trying to suggest that not much farmland will have to be sold off as a r...

That is not how I interpret the comment, but I make no apology for the fact that we want to suppo...

The Minister talks about data. Given the massive discrepancy involved, and the impact of this pol...

When we approach policies in government we test them thoroughly and consider the details and the ...

Will the Minister give way?

I am going to make some progress.

As I said earlier, a farm worth £5 million but owned by f...

Will the Minister give way?

I will give way to the Liz Truss cheerleader on the Back Benches.

The CLA has pointed out that 46% of farms are owned by individuals. The data produced in the lett...

I note that the hon. Gentleman’s grasp of economics is about as good as Liz Truss’s was. As I hav...

Will the Minister give way?

I am going to make some progress. I have given way many times already.

Looking at the HMRC ...

I thank the Minister for giving way; he is being generous. He has mentioned claims for agricultur...

I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention. As we know, any farmer who is renting out land or far...

Despite attempts by the Opposition to hijack this debate, I can honestly say—[Interruption.] If t...

I thank my hon. Friend very much for her intervention. It is telling that when she makes such an ...

Will the Minister give way?

I have given way already, so I am going to make some progress.

The reforms should be seen i...

Does the Minister agree that in the Government’s haste to target tax avoiders such as Jeremy Clar...

Although our policy should discourage the kind of tax planning to which I think the hon. Gentlema...

The Minister rightly mentions the need for more sustainable land management, but is it not the ca...

No, that is not the case. The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Me...

I backed British farming ahead of the general election, and I back the farmers in my constituency...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to draw attention to the mismanagement under the previous Gove...

Does my hon. Friend agree that perhaps unsurprisingly, given the name of their political party, C...

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to point out that the Conservative party has no ideas about ho...

Farmers in my constituency tell me how much they are struggling to see a GP and to get public tra...

Order. Interventions should relate to the debate in hand.

I will not try your patience, Madam Deputy Speaker, but I feel that my hon. Friend’s intervention...

Will the Minister give way on that point?

I will make some progress.

As I was saying, we could not justify leaving the situation unch...

There is a lot of talk from the Opposition, who are getting very excited by this debate, about fa...

My hon. Friend makes a powerful point about the record of the Opposition parties. In our Budget, ...

I call the Liberal Democrat spokesperson.

1.48 pm

It is my utter privilege to speak on behalf of my party and 1,500 farmers in Westmorland and Lons...

I have no doubt about the hon. Gentleman’s personal commitment, but do not the Liberal Democrats ...

That is nonsense. Wherever Liberal Democrats are in control, we back and support our farmers and ...

Does the hon. Gentleman think that the difficulty with the Labour party is that it just does not ...

There is something in that, and I will come to that in a moment when I talk about poverty in our ...

The hon. Gentleman is making a profoundly important point. Not for the first time he is speaking ...

I am going to get to that, but the right hon. Gentleman will have to tolerate me accurately pinni...

If land prices were to go down, as has been described by the Minister—I am not sure I believe tha...

I have heard that from land agents in my own constituency, and my hon. Friend makes a really inte...

The hon. Gentleman mentioned tenant farmers, and I know that he will have some in his constituenc...

The hon. Lady makes a good reference to the outcome of the Rock review, which took place under th...

I am going to crack on now and not take any more interventions because, with help from Members on...

It seems clear that, as with the winter fuel allowance changes, the Government have missed their ...

Yes, and the Government should have been thinking about these things. We heard from the Minister ...

I have huge respect for the hon. Gentleman, my constituency neighbour, but I have a question. I t...

To clarify my response to my hon. Friend the Member for North Cornwall (Ben Maguire), the Governm...

This debate is already oversubscribed. To point out a simple fact, if you were not here for the s...

I represent Ribble Valley in Lancashire, one of the most beautiful constituencies in the country ...

I fully recognise how much the hon. Lady wants to serve her new constituents, and I hope she is r...

I will come on to opportunities to increase the prosperity of farmers, which should be our missio...

The hon. Lady is making an eloquent speech about farming and the importance of farmers to our com...

If the hon. Lady will allow me, I will come to how we can help the farmers who will be affected b...

The hon. Lady is making an interesting speech, and I am grateful for it. She is right that we sho...

As the Minister pointed out, many farms will not be affected by the measure and it will not have ...

On that point, will the hon. Lady give way?

I am sorry, but I will not. I spoke earlier about the strength and efficiencies in family farming...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will not, as I want to make progress. Just look at how farmers have led the way in restoring bi...

On that point, will the hon. Lady give way?

I am sorry, but I will not.

The motion tabled by the Conservatives today is not clear or sp...

I declare my interest as a working farmer and a chartered surveyor.

When I drive through my...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

We have already had an exchange in interventions, so I ask the hon. Gentleman to first let me say...

The NFU said that farms may be affected by the policy—that is the language that it used—taking no...

If the hon. Gentleman will just listen to my speech and the examples that I am about to give with...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I do not want to give way to too many people, but I will to the hon. Gentleman.

The hon. Gentleman mentions 5% of agricultural businesses being at risk. Is it not true that unde...

That was over a much longer period, but these changes will take effect much quicker. I can assure...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

It is the last time.

Would the Tories not have a lot more credibility on this issue if they owned up to the disaster t...

If the hon. Gentleman wants to call an Adjournment debate on Brexit, he is entitled to do so.

At some point, speaking limits will be introduced, so please think about editing your speeches. B...

That was quicker than I expected, Madam Deputy Speaker, so thank you. It is a privilege to speak ...

I entirely endorse what the hon. Gentleman, my constituency neighbour, said about recognising and...

I thank the right hon. Member for being a champion in this House of skills and trade unions, whic...

As a fellow Cambridgeshire MP, will the hon. Member give us some examples of farms in his constit...

I certainly recognise from door-knocking in rural communities and talking to rural workers that f...

After the next contribution I will impose a time limit of five minutes on speeches. I call the Ch...

I remind the House of my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.

It is a ple...

I welcome the contribution of my former ministerial colleague. Had the tax been levied on exactly...

I think I just said more or less exactly that. A debate of the sort that I am talking about would...

The right hon. Gentleman makes an important point about just how little farmers earn, and yet the...

“Working people” hardly does justice to farmers. Some of my young constituents told me they were ...

Now, with a speaking limit of five minutes, I call Matt Bishop.

2.43 pm

My constituency is a very rural one with 751 farms. It is an extremely important issue to my cons...

Will the hon. Member accept that the changes to inheritance tax damage the economic realities in ...

Although I empathise with the hon. Member’s comment, that is not exactly what I hear from the far...

The Government have made many claims about this policy that are not credible, but I wish to addre...

Is the hon. Member, like me, slightly irate when she hears UK Government Ministers talking about ...

I could not agree more with the hon. Gentleman. My farmers tell me that these inheritance tax bil...

Is the hon. Lady aware that the capital gains tax starts from the moment of a person deceasing, n...

What I have been told by my farmers, based on the tax advice that they have been given, is that t...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

I will not, as I am coming to the end of my speech.

It is absurd and shameful that this Gov...

To misquote Brian Clough, I would not say that my constituency is the most beautiful in the count...

Last month, I spent a very enjoyable afternoon scoring the senior young farmers at Radnor young f...

No. The message from this Government is that we are committed to farming, and to making it profit...

The hon. Gentleman has 428 farms in his constituency. How many of those farmers will thank him fo...

I live in one of the rural villages and speak to the farmers in my villages all the time. The fac...

I will not take any more interventions at the moment. Before the Budget, I sat down with farmers ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not. Secondly, they were concerned about cuts to the farming budget. The Chancellor de...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

No, I will not give way at this stage. Let us be clear: only 4% of estates in this country pay in...

I will not give way at this stage. Those estates over the threshold will have a 50% reduction in ...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Sorry, I will not give way at this stage.

This debate has, however, shone an important ligh...

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

I am sorry, but I will not.

We must create a greater marketplace for farming businesses by ...

I share the frustration of my right hon. Friend shadow Secretary of State that the Secretary of S...

I have had correspondence from an agricultural accountant in my constituency who says that, since...

My right hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Farming is a lonely existence at times, and farmers h...

Does my hon. Friend agree that, as part of Labour Members’ total failure to understand the countr...

My hon. Friend is absolutely correct. Farmers are of course price takers, not price setters, and ...

My colleague on the Select Committee has great expertise on the farming industry. He will therefo...

We are going to have to agree to disagree on that point.

Frankly, this is a policy dreamt u...

I must admit that, as a new Member and a novice when it comes to the fine details of parliamentar...

I listened to the Member’s speech very closely. Paragraph 20.13 of “Erskine May” states:

“F...

I rise to join Conservative colleagues in calling on the Labour Government to stop this farm tax....

My right hon. Friend is making excellent points. Does she agree that there is not only a lack of ...

I thank my hon. Friend for bringing that point to the House. This debate allows those on the Labo...

A moment ago, we heard talk from the Liberal Democrat Benches of a family farm tax and land taxes...

It would be good if Members listened to what I said. I said it is not too late for Labour to reve...

Order. I call Callum Anderson.

3.18 pm

I associate myself with the excellent speeches by my hon. Friends the Members for Ribble Valley (...

Will the hon. Member give way?

I would be happy to were there not too little time. These investments are about more than money. ...

Will the hon. Member give way?

I will not on this occasion. Just last night, the former Conservative Chancellor Lord Clarke agre...

I rise to speak on behalf of Mid Norfolk, a rural, agricultural, food-processing constituency tha...

Will the hon. Member give way?

I will not, as time is short and colleagues want to speak. This policy is a prescription for the ...

It is always a privilege to speak on behalf of my constituency, which is the largest in England a...

Will the hon. Member give way?

I will. The vast expanse of green on the Opposition Benches reminds me of the British countryside...

Does the hon. Member think that perhaps the reason the good people of Hexham voted for him is bec...

When we start a new job and find that the previous person in that job had not paid invoices for t...

Will the hon. Gentleman set out how many farmers he has spoken to since the Budget and, of those,...

The hon. Member is welcome to come and take a look at my diary at some point. On the Saturday aft...

I hope that my hon. Friend sees me as a fellow Labour MP who works his constituency hard and spea...

They absolutely do; my hon. Friend is right. What people—not just farmers—speak to me about is th...

Before the Budget, the hon. Member will remember attending a Westminster Hall debate that I organ...

I thank the hon. Member for her intervention. She and I must have a slightly different view of a ...

Will the hon. Member give way?

I have taken plenty of interventions in a short time.

Ultimately, the Government will be ju...

I rise to support the many farmers in my constituency and the rural communities that farmers are ...

I cannot believe what I am hearing. I am a four-time Member of Parliament for a semi-rural seat, ...

I am a bit familiar with the hon. Gentleman’s electoral history—he was out of Parliament for quit...

I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate, and I am grateful that the Conservatives, afte...

As many Members know, I am able to speak with some expertise on this subject, as I was the first ...

Will the hon. Lady give way?

No.

Another flawed assumption is that the residential nil rate band will be applicable. If ...

All Governments have to make tough decisions. Faced with a £22 billion black hole, Labour has cho...

I must begin by drawing attention to my entry in the Register of Members’ Financial Interests.