Stuart Anderson MP lambasted the government for failing to support farming communities like South Shropshire as the Family Farms Tax took effect on Monday, 6th April 2026. For the first time in over forty years, family farmers will be charged inheritance tax on combined agricultural and business assets above £2.5 million.
- The government has slapped an effective inheritance tax rate of 20% on family farms.
- Relief is capped at £2.5 million, with a 50% relief applied above that.
- Cuts and caps have been announced as part of a major shake-up of the Sustainable Farming Incentive.
Stuart Anderson MP said:
“As the Family Farms and Business Tax takes effect this month, it is crystal clear the government does not care about farming communities like South Shropshire. In its recently published Land Use Framework, the government should have committed to strengthening - rather than just maintaining - food security. Having already cut farming support by over £100 million, I am worried that cuts and caps on farming support schemes - like the Sustainable Farming Incentive - will entrench the food and farming crisis that Labour has caused over the last eighteen months. Under this government, farmer confidence has dropped to its lowest levels on record, while farm closures have skyrocketed. Meanwhile, grocery bills are set to soar as much as 10 per cent this year. Prospects for farming communities like South Shropshire remain bleak while Labour is still in government. Only a Conservative government will scrap these crippling taxes and properly support rural communities like ours.”
Stuart has repeatedly opposed the tax, which he worries could spell the end of the family farm. Shropshire is home to hundreds of farms, which have been owned by generations of local families. However, the government has imposed inheritance tax on them for the first time since 1984. More than 300,000 people signed the Conservative Party’s petition to scrap the tax, which was launched the same day the changes were announced in October 2024.
In December 2025, Ministers announced that the threshold would be increased from £1 million to £2.5 million. This means a couple can pass on up to £5 million of agricultural or business assets tax-free between them. However, Stuart remains worried that it will badly affect farms that may be asset-rich but cash-poor. Over six thousand farms have already closed since October 2024. The Conservatives have pledged to restore the full relief if returned to government after the General Election.
Since taking power, the government has also cut farming and countryside programmes by £100 million and imposed caps on many more schemes. In Its Land Use Framework, the government committed to maintaining - rather than strengthening - food production. As the Guardian has reported, about 7% of England’s land – an area roughly two-and-a-half times the size of Cornwall – will need to be given over to nature, forests, and renewable energy, to meet the UK’s environmental targets. The government has said that the UK’s classifications of agricultural land will also be updated. Stuart is worried that the wrong trade-offs could mean farmers will be told whether their land would be better turned over to uses.
Stuart is also worried that “cuts and caps” to farming support schemes will entrench the food and farming crisis that Labour has caused. At the National Farmers’ Union Conference on 24th February 2026, Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds MP confirmed the restoration of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), which was unexpectedly closed last year when it was announced that the funding has been “successfully allocated”. However, the decision meant more than 3,000 drafted applications for support became frozen before a climbdown was announced.
The scheme will reopen for up to two months in June 2026. It will initially be open for smaller farms and those without an existing agreement. This will be followed in September when applications open for all farm types. However, 31 actions have been removed, which Stuart has said will leave farmers with less choice. A cap has also been introduced on the amount of funding that can be claimed for individual payments. Meanwhile, the amount of funding for some actions in the scheme have been reduced.
Stuart has said that the support remains insufficient while the Family Farms Tax remains in place. Stuart has also said that it will do little to overturn the record number of farm closures in just 18 months. Many farmers still believe that the £2.5 million threshold on agricultural and business property relief is still fundamentally flawed. Meanwhile, the Food and Drink Federation (FDF) - which represents 12,000 food and drink manufacturers in the UK - has hiked its inflation forecast for the year from 3.2 per cent to between nine and 10 per cent.
