During an urgent question on farming and the Budget, James called on the minister to honour Labour's pre-election promise to farmers and rethink the plans to introduce this new tax.
James raised concerns regarding Labour’s new Family Farm Tax which would reduce Agricultural Property Relief which will undermine food security, environmental stewardship, and hurt rural economies. James is working with colleagues to pressure the government to rethink its damaging plans
Before the election Labour repeatedly said they had no plans to reform APR and this announcement has been met by strong opposition from the farming community. Tom Bradshaw, President of the NFU said:
“The shameless breaking of those promises on Agricultural Property Relief will snatch away much of the next generation’s ability to carry on producing British food, plan for the future and shepherd the environment.”
Speaking in the House of Commons, James stated:
“Does the Minister accept that agricultural relief was introduced to protect family farms from being broken up, precisely to reflect their role as food producers and custodians of our countryside? Will he rethink this, do what Labour originally promised, and withdraw this proposal?”
Daniel Zeichner, Minister of state for Food Security and Rural Affairs stated:
“As a fellow East Anglian MP, the hon. Gentleman will know just how complicated farming is, how much it has changed over the last 30 years, and how much it is likely to change in the future.
We have to ensure that farming is in the right place to benefit from the changes that we are seeing globally and nationally and, most importantly, that farming can operate in an environmentally and nature-sensitive way. Without that, we will all be in deep trouble.
