Rachel Reeves hit by Labour rural rebellion over inheritance tax on farmers

Chancellor Rachel Reeves has suffered different fund stroke with a rebellion by agrarian Labour MPs implicit inheritance taxation connected farmers.

Speaking during the last time of the Commons statement connected the budget, Labour backbenchers demanded a U-turn connected the arguable proposals.

Plans to present a 20% taxation connected workplace estates worthy much than £1m from April person drawn protesters to London successful their tens of thousands, with galore fearing immense taxation bills that would unit tiny farms to merchantability up for good.

MPs voted connected the alleged "family farms tax" conscionable aft 8pm connected Tuesday, with dozens of Labour MPs appearing to person abstained, and 1 backbencher - borders MP Markus Campbell-Savours - voting against, alongside Conservative members.

In the vote, the 5th retired of 7 astatine the extremity of the fund debate, Labour's ballot slumped from 371 successful the archetypal ballot connected taxation changes, down by 44 votes to 327.

The mini-mutiny followed a plea to Labour MPs from the National Farmers Union to abstain.

"To Labour MPs: We inquire you to abstain connected Budget Resolution 50," the NFU urged.

"With your help, we tin amusement the authorities determination is inactive clip to get it close connected the household workplace tax. A argumentation with specified cruel quality costs demands change. Now is the clip to basal up for the farmers you represent."

After the vote, NFU president Tom Bradshaw said: "The MPs who person shown their enactment are the agrarian representatives of the Labour Party. They correspond the moving radical of the countryside and person spoken up connected behalf of their constituents.

"It is captious that the chancellor and premier curate perceive to the wide connection they person delivered this evening. The adjacent measurement successful the combat against the household workplace taxation is removing the interaction of this unjust and unfair argumentation connected the astir susceptible members of our community."

The authorities comfortably won the ballot by 327-182, a bulk of 145. But the mini-mutiny served announcement to the chancellor and Sir Keir Starmer that recently elected Labour MPs from the shires are prepared to rebel.

Speaking successful the statement earlier, Mr Campbell-Savours said: "There stay heavy concerns astir the projected changes to cultivation spot alleviation (APR).

"Changes which permission many, not slightest aged farmers, yet to marque arrangements to transportation assets, devastated astatine the interaction connected their household farms."

Samantha Niblett, Labour MP for South Derbyshire abstained aft telling MPs: "I bash plead with the authorities to look again astatine APR inheritance tax.

"Most farmers are not affluent onshore barons, they unrecorded manus to rima connected tiny, sometimes non-existent nett margins. Many were explicitly advised not to manus implicit their workplace to children, (but) present look enormous, unexpected taxation bills.

"We indispensable admit a hard truth: we person mislaid the spot of our farmers, and they merit our utmost respect, our honesty and our unwavering support."

Labour MPs from agrarian constituencies who did not ballot included Tonia Antoniazzi (Gower), Julia Buckley (Shrewsbury), Torquil Crichton (Western Isles), Jonathan Davies (Mid Derbyshire), Maya Ellis (Ribble Valley), and Anna Gelderd (South East Cornwall), Ben Goldsborough (South Norfolk), Alison Hume (Scarborough and Whitby), Terry Jermy (South West Norfolk), Jayne Kirkham (Truro and Falmouth), Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay), Perran Moon, (Camborne and Redruth), Samantha Niblett (South Derbyshire), Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Suffolk Coastal), Henry Tufnell (Mid and South Pembrokeshire), John Whitby (Derbyshire Dales) and Steve Witherden (Montgomeryshire and Glyndwr).