Esther McVey has accused government of diversionary tactics by commissioning a review into farm profitability – whilst at the same time pushing ahead with plans that will devastate family farms up and down the country.
A six-month review for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has been tasked with looking at fair competition in the supply chain, changes to planning reforms to make it easier to build on their land, and helping farmers diversify income streams.
But Ms McVey said government was “missing the point” and its plans to introduce inheritance tax when passing on landholdings to family, must - at the very least be paused – as part of the review.
She said: “Farmers say changes being introduced by this Labour government will devastate the industry, their livelihoods and put food security in the UK at risk. It is ridiculous to have a review into profitability which does not consider the changes to inheritance tax.
“To be profitable, there needs to be a business to profit from and my local farmers and others from the wider Cheshire area I have met, both at a recent event in Macclesfield and rallies in London, have all said the tax will cause irreversible damage to the industry and for the future of British farming.
“If this review is to be anything more than lip service or an attempt to appease farmers its remit must be widened.”
From April 2026 farms valued above a certain threshold will no longer be exempt from paying inheritance tax (when passing on landholdings to family). Previously, they were given a tax break under Agricultural Property Relief (APR).
Farmers say the changes will bankrupt many farms as land will have to be sold off to generate cash to pay the tax bills.
Ms McVey has written to Environment Secretary Steve Reed urging him to widen the remit of the review.
She added: “The Terms of Reference for this review must be widened as you cannot exclude one of the biggest changes the industry has faced in decades.
“Farming is not just a job, but a way of life. It is not something which can be taught through textbooks, it’s something which is learnt through generations of farming, and passed down to the next. If you lose this industry, you will lose something far more valuable than money alone, you will lose the irreplaceable knowledge of these farmers and without this, there simply is no future for British Agriculture. We need to do everything we can to support our farmers.”
Government has faced repeated criticism from the industry in recent months for the plans, as well as other proposals to impose a new fertiliser levy, and for stopping applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme.
Former National Farmers’ Union president Baroness Minette Batters will head up the review which started on April 7.