Shrewsbury MP faces criticism from farmers over inheritance tax comments in podcast interview
Shrewsbury's MP is facing criticism from farmers over comments she made about inheritance tax during an interview on a politics podcast.
The chair of Shropshire's NFU, Ruyton-XI-Towns farmer Kate Mayne, said farmers would be "absolutely dismayed" by comments made by Shrewsbury's Labour MP, Julia Buckley.
The MP has defended herself, saying she was responding to a query over why the Labour Party is not "taxing wealth", and insisted she is advocating for "exemptions" to protect farmers from inheritance tax changes.
Mrs Buckley made the comments on PoliticsHome's 'The Rundown' podcast, where she said she had been challenged by a 'firebrand' student from Shrewsbury College who had visited her in Parliament.
She said the individual had asked her why the Government is not "taxing wealth".
Explaining her response to the question to the podcast's host, she said: "I said to him 'have you heard all the complaining from the private schools in Shrewsbury?', and he nodded 'yeah'.
"I said 'have you heard grief from anybody else?' and he said 'yes, from the farmers', I said 'exactly'.
"We have brought in the threshold for inheritance tax because we are taxing unearned wealth for people who earn over £1.5 million at death, which is a really very small minority of the population, I said 'and what actually happens then is all the headlines of all the right wing newspapers are all very very loudly criticising us', so my view is that we are taxing wealth and it is causing a lot of very noisy criticism of the Labour Government, which tells us we have found wealth and we are doing the right thing."
Responding to Mrs Buckley's comments on the podcast, Ms Mayne said: “Farmers who are in and around Shrewsbury will be absolutely dismayed by these comments.
“Business confidence and cashflow is at a generational low and the family farm tax cloud still hangs over us, coupled with a host of other pressures, including the current dry weather and its impact on food production.
“Understandably the Government is trying to target those abusing the tax relief but this is not farmers, who already pay their fair share of tax. It is the working sons and daughters on those farms, many of who actually run them now, that will be affected by the tax upon the death of a relative.
“Farmers work incredibly hard to produce food to feed people in Shrewsbury, Telford and across the county and country - alongside managing the countryside of which we are all so proud and what they do is very far removed from ‘unearned wealth’.
“Our businesses have been built up through generations of hard work and toil and there are not many farmers I know in Shropshire who are unaffected by these proposed tax changes.
“There is a real need for all MPs to understand the unintended consequences of this family farm tax, what the human impact is and how politicians can help mitigate against it so the policy does not catch a whole generation of farmers in the eye of the storm.
“Given the right tools Shropshire farmers and those across the country can deliver real economic growth, something we have a track record of, but the idea that we and other related businesses can afford to take the hit is a tough one to take and a poor reflection of the reality on the ground.
“Food security must be a priority for government especially given the global geopolitical and economic uncertainty we currently face, but our farm businesses are clearly being undermined by these tax changes that are cruel and unfit to become legislation.
“We will continue to fight this.”
Responding to the criticism, Mrs Buckley said: "The quote unfortunately clips only part of my sentence.
"I was asked why Labour isn’t taxing wealth, so I explained that we are taking steps to tax wealth through changes to inheritance tax, VAT on private schools, and taxes on large multinational companies.
"In terms of communications, many left-leaning voters simply aren’t aware of these plans, while those who would be affected are very much aware and vociferous in their lobbying.
"Inheritance tax, for example, affects only the top three per cent of asset owners, but unfortunately, some farmers are now also brought into scope.
"That’s why I am advocating for exemptions to protect them. It’s important to remember that inheritance tax, by definition, is a tax on assets at the point of death.
"There is no change to farmers’ income tax during their lifetimes. These proposals are not yet in force; they are suggestions for next April, which is why I am continuing to advocate for farmers and ensure their position is understood."
