The secretary of state in charge of rural affairs, Steve Reed, has admitted he has changed his stance on farm inheritance tax because of the “£22bn black hole left by the Tories”.
When he was shadow DEFRA secretary, Mr Reed told two farmers’ conferences a year ago Labour had no plans to change inheritance rules, including Agricultural Property Relief (APR), which gives them a 100% exemption.
In the budget last month Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced farms worth over £1m would have to pay 20% inheritance tax from April 2026.
There was no mention of inheritance tax for farmers in Labour’s manifesto.
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As farmers descended on Westminster in protest against the change, Mr Reed admitted he had changed his stance since last year.
“After we won the election, we discovered the Tories left a £22bn black hole in the public finances,” he told the BBC.
“We’ve had to ask those with broadest shoulders to pay a little bit more.”
On farmers feeling betrayed, he said: “I’m sure we all feel betrayed by the state of which the Tories left the economy.”
Mr Reed promised Labour would stabilise the economy “in a way that is fair and proportionate”.
Earlier, policing minister Dame Diana Johnson denied Labour had broken a promise.
She told Sky News’ Breakfast with Kay Burley programme: “I’m not sure we particularly set out a promise around this issue.
“I think the chancellor’s been very clear that she is not breaking promises that she made in the manifesto.”
When she was told Mr Reed said last December he would not change the rules, Dame Diana said: “Well, I don’t accept that.”
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