Shocked MP told by local farmer "If only I could die now"

Montgomeryshire and Glyndŵr MP Steve Witherden has called for mitigations to the planned changes to Agricultural Property Relief, which are due to come into force next year, after being told by one tearful farmer "if only I could die now".

Speaking in a Westminster Hall Debate, Steve Witherden MP asked whether the Government would consider raising the threshold, in order to better target the super-rich that buy agricultural land as a means of avoiding tax, while lessening the impact on real family farms. He also asked whether the Government would exempt farmers who are too late in life to adequately plan for the changes.

He Witherden said: “I support progressive taxation to ensure that the wealthiest pay their fair share towards the upkeep of our society.

“In the 21^st century, we see individual plutocrats and super-wealthy multinationals buying agricultural land to avoid paying inheritance tax, with no intention of using it for farming. That reduces our farmed land—something we can ill afford, given our fast-growing population in an unstable world.

“The changes to Agricultural Property Relief come on the back of this, and risk having a deeply detrimental effect on working family farms.

“I have repeatedly spoken about my heartbreaking experiences with hungry children and food banks. In recent years, we have seen food scarcity, empty shelves in the supermarkets and astronomical food price inflation. It cannot be overstated how that period of food inflation has affected the poorest in our country.

“I have called on the Government to raise the threshold. If this policy is to target those who buy farmland solely to dodge inheritance tax, then let us make it so: raise the threshold and actually increase the rate for people like that, so that no family farm is affected.

“I also implored the Government to exempt farmers who are too late in life to plan for this proposed change. When you sit with an elderly farmer and his wife, both fighting back the tears, and they say, ‘If only I could die now, if only there was some kind of pill I could take now, so that my children don’t have to worry about this,’ that has a profound effect.”

PICTURE: MP Steve Witherden at a meeting with farming constituents in Llanerfyl.