A Labour MP has called on Andy Burnham to scrap the Family Farm Tax and start backing rural England. Markus Campbell-Savours risked the wrath of the Labour Party whips by issuing the demand, which comes just months after he was suspended for calling on Sir Keir Starmer to ditch the tax.
He was readmitted to the Labour Party in March this year and has now appealed to Downing Street to scrap the tariff, reconsider the fertiliser tax and deliver on long-awaited farm profitability plans.
Defiance from within Labour ranks
The Penrith and Solway MP becomes the latest Labour member to plead with the Prime Minister to make the changes, just days after Mr Burnham's conference speech, which made no mention of rural England. Campaigners welcomed the defiant stance, with the Countryside Alliance calling on colleagues to join him and demand a U-turn on the policy.
Opposition to the Family Farm Tax from within Mr Burnham's own party has grown in recent weeks. Last month, Labour grandee Lord Blunkett, widely seen as the Prime Minister's mentor, slammed the policy. Speaking at the launch of the Countryside Alliance's Campaign for the Countryside, he said that the tax was a “mistake”.
Growing pressure on the Prime Minister
Just days later, former farming minister Daniel Zeichner said he believed the party should never have imposed it, warning they should “be careful about picking fights with the countryside”.
The Express has been campaigning to axe the tax, having launched its crusade to Save Britain's Family Farms in 2024. Campaigners joined the calls, leading to protests in Westminster and backing from TV superstar Jeremy Clarkson.
The Government made a partial U-turn on the policy last December, raising the threshold at which agricultural property becomes subject to the tax, yet recent figures have shown that it is still having a profound effect.
Impact on rural businesses
The Country Land and Business Association (CLA) recently found that nearly nine in 10 farming and rural family businesses have frozen investment as a result of the Family Farm Tax. Their data revealed that 85% of the 700 rural businesses questioned stated that the £2.5million current allowance would not be enough to cover the value of their operation.
Mr Campbell-Savours last year voted against the Government on the Family Farm Tax and was suspended from the Parliamentary Labour Party for four months. Speaking to his local newspaper the News & Star, he said: “It is time we pulled the stops out. As a starter for 10, the Government must deliver on its farm profitability plans, reconsider the fertiliser tax, but also deliver one final U-turn and scrap its plans to abolish agricultural property relief.”
The Countryside Alliance has identified at least 27 policies that have harmed rural people since 2024, and is calling on the Government for a “rural reset”. Harmful policies identified include the Family Farm Tax, hikes to National Insurance, proposals that would severely harm racing, the ban on trail hunting, and proposed restrictions on game shooting.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, Director of External Affairs at the Countryside Alliance, said: “It's clear to many rural MPs that farmers are having a tough time and the hated family farm tax is very much the elephant in the room, impacting decisions they make about the future. We welcome this move and hope it will encourage others in the Government to do the same.
“If the Government wants to show it's serious about resetting its relationship with the countryside, abolishing this blatant wrong would be a welcome start. With so many Government policies threatening rural communities, it would send a clear message that the new Government will be departing from the harmful policies of the past and wants to work with the countryside, not against it.”
