Labour MP Markus Campbell-Savours has been suspended from the parliamentary party after rebelling against the government's plans to impose inheritance tax on farmers. The backbencher voted against the measures in the Commons, expressing “deep concerns” about their impact on farmers.
Chief whip Jonathan Reynolds informed Mr Campbell-Savours that the whip had been removed on Wednesday, according to a Labour source. Dozens of other Labour MPs abstained from the vote, which saw the government win by 327 votes to 182, a majority of 145.
The rebellion came after the National Farming Union (NFU) called on Labour MPs to abstain and “show that they truly back the working people of the countryside”. Backbenchers argued that most farmers are “not wealthy land barons” and that the measure fails to tackle “abuse by the celebrities and the billionaires” who buy farmland to avoid inheritance tax.
Speaking in the Budget debate, Mr Campbell-Savours said he had been a Labour candidate who reassured farmers that agricultural property relief would not be touched, based on public commitments from the then shadow Defra secretary. “It’s for that reason I’ll be voting against the Budget resolution enabling these changes,” he said.
Treasury minister James Murray defended the changes, insisting they are a “fair way forward”. The Budget introduced a 20 per cent inheritance tax rate on agricultural land and businesses worth more than £1m, with a £1m allowance transferable between spouses.
This is not the first suspension of Labour MPs; last month, four backbenchers had the whip restored after being suspended for rebelling against benefits reforms. The NFU president Tom Bradshaw described the tax as “inhumane and cruel”, warning it would trap elderly and terminally ill farmers.
