A 76-year-old farmer has delivered a blunt six-word verdict on the Budget to Andy Burnham and Chancellor John Healey, saying: “The Budget hasn’t helped at all.”
Speaking to the Daily Express outside Parliament, Richard Wrinch, who has farmed since he was 21, said there was “nothing” in the Budget for Britain’s farming communities, apart from the extended fuel duty cut. His comments came after John Healey’s first Budget as Labour Chancellor failed to scrap the family farm inheritance tax.
Family Farm Tax Remains in Place
Rural campaigners have long urged Mr Burnham to change course on the policy, which they see as an all-out war on England’s countryside communities. Labour introduced the tax after winning the 2024 General Election, leaving grieving families with bills many could not afford.
The Daily Express launched a campaign calling on then-chancellor Rachel Reeves to U-turn on the policy. Television star Jeremy Clarkson joined the calls, and former prime minister Lord Cameron backed the campaign alongside the Conservative Party and Nigel Farage’s Reform UK.
Farmer's Family Handover Struggles
In his Budget, John Healey made no mention of farming and did not commit to reversing the scheme, despite promising to chart a different course from his predecessors and give British families “breathing room”.
Mr Wrinch explained the difficulty of handing his farm to his son, saying: “We, as a family, are trying to hand it over to our son, but we haven’t managed to get the seven-year clock running.” He was referring to the rule that assets handed to children are exempt from inheritance tax if the giver survives for seven years after the gift.
He added: “We have already lost 18 months since we started the process of trying to get this land handed to our son, so we can start the clock. Not that me and my wife are expecting to ‘kark it’ any time soon, mind.”
Government Measures Fall Short
Mr Wrinch said: “It’s just disappointing that the Labour Party seem to see this as a success story, forcing family farms to divest part of what we have run for generations, to pay a tax that we cannot afford.”
Earlier this week, the Government announced it would remove tariffs on some fertiliser imports, which Environment Secretary Dame Angela Eagle said was intended to reduce the cost burden on farmers. The Government also extended the fuel duty cut, which would apply to red diesel, a fuel commonly used in agricultural machinery.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw said the fertiliser tariff move was “unlikely to make a meaningful difference to farm businesses or household food bills”.
