Libby Bellamy

advice to farmers and rural businesses. Farmer Co-ops and study groups, knowledge transfer to help improve your business. Bit of dairy farming in SW Scotland !

[Rob Hitch @Rob__Hitch]

Just written a letter to a widow, age 81, who holds land through a life interest trust created on the death of her husband. #IHT liability to 5/4/26 Nil IHT liability on 6/4/26 £1,050,000. When will @RachelReevesMP grant some relief for older people inadvertently caught by reform

[Alistair Carmichael MP @amcarmichaelMP]

Asking the Business Secretary if he would rule out any trade deal with the US which would allow the import of food produced to lower standards - such as hormone-treated beef or chlorine-treated chicken.

I was hoping for a "yes or no" answer. Seems that was too much to hope for.

[Joe Stanley @JoeWStanley]

Good analysis of the real-world impact of @RachelReevesMP’s IHT bombshell.

Land values in tiny NI higher than England, so impact greater. Loss of BPR also hits hard-built diversifications which @SteveReedMP says we need to make.

A total failure of govt.

https://t.co/ywtY69a52x

[Farmer Tom 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 @Farmer_Tom_UK]

“If you care, care now, not ten years in the future when it’s all gone. We need your support now”.

Making no apologies for how cutting and clear my commentary is. @DefraGovUK @SteveReedMP @RachelReevesMP @Keir_Starmer do the right thing. You are ruining our country.

[Joe Stanley @JoeWStanley]

Govt now plans to compulsorily purchase farmland to create nature offsets for developers - totally undermining the nature markets they had previously touted as a vital new income stream for farmers in absence of public £.

Absolutely wild. Scorched earth.
https://t.co/uCFodJs1Pe

[Jeremy Squirrell @Jes_Squirrell]

A thread 🧵 for @RachelReeves and @Keir_Starmer
We are a family farm in Mid Suffolk, growing combinable crops and producing free range eggs.
Back during the last Labour government we were struggling to make decent margins, so we explored alternative income streams and diversify

[Robbie Moore MP @_RobbieMoore]

Ministers thought they could ‘quietly’ scrap a vital £10 million mental health support fund for farmers….

….well they thought wrong.

This really is one of the most venomous, uncaring governments in history - which seems determined to squeeze every family farming business to breaking point.

Despite all the warnings to this Labour Government that their vindictive family farm tax is right now negatively impacting many farmers mental health and wellbeing - they choose to scrap a vital fund which helps support many farmers who are currently in crises.

Unbelievable.

🧵1/2

[Stuart @StuartMaggs]

Refresher and update on changes to APR/BPR for inheritance tax

The changes proposed to APR & BPR will raise around £200m a year from farming by 2028/29, suggested Dan Neidle of Tax Policy Associates on Saturday, with another £300m or so from other family businesses, and from IHT avoidance schemes. This seems the right sort of ballpark to me.

Rumour suggests that this draft policy was kicking around the Treasury for a while with no real political appetite for it. But with support from Arun Advani of CenTax, it was picked up by Rachel Reeves and announced in her Budget. Initially we were told this was about preventing tax avoidance, but then the PM explained to the Parliamentary Oversight Committee that it had no such underlying policy - it was just a money raiser. Nobody had done an impact assessment before introducing the policy to understand whether it might in fact severely damage critical industries.

If they had, they would have found out that paring back APR and BPR threatens continuation of family businesses who have to find 20% or so of their value every generation to pay in tax. This jeopardises investment, growth and employment within those businesses.

Ministers took the unusual step of recommending that people take tax planning advice to mitigate the impact. However elderly and infirm business owners, and those with limited income, may not have time or may not be able to plan to protect their business.

In particular, analysis shows that even if a typical family farm used its entire income for a decade it still wouldn’t be able to afford the proposed tax without selling land. Partly, this is because food production has very tight margin. Partly because there are many pressures on land – development, renewables, food production, environmental benefits – and so land values are much higher than you might expect using normal earnings multipliers. Regardless, farmers and their advisors were shocked to see an unaffordable tax charge being proposed that would cripple their business following a death.

Tax experts explained that, luckily, the Treasury could avoid most negative impacts without significantly reducing the tax take by slightly retargeting the proposal. Ideas have been suggested like reducing the relief but adding a clawback arrangement, so that tax falls due when assets are sold, not on death. That would protect growth, investment and productivity across the OMB sector, all of which are at the heart of the Chancellor’s agenda.

Disappointingly the Treasury flatly refused to consult on improvements. As a result, farmers have been protesting since the Budget, trying to convey that this proposal severely threatens the future of their business.

On Tuesday 18th February the NFU and others are finally meeting with Minister James Murray (who gave the keynote speech at the launch of CenTax in November 2024) to try to persuade him that a shift in implementation of this policy is in everyone’s interest. Given his link to CenTax and its support for this policy, I am not confident of their success, but the meeting is a positive step.

I remain hopeful that common sense and pragmatism can triumph over ideology.

[Andrew Ward 🇬🇧🚜 @wheat_daddy]

My response to @Keir_Starmer’s comments yesterday re farmers, the NHS and the government’s latest attack on the countryside.

[Olly harrison 🥛🍔🌱AccidentalYoutuber @agricontract]

Please watch this @Keir_Starmer @RachelReevesMP @SteveReedMP open letter stop the pain on farms #farmamnesty @FarmersWeekly @FarmersGuardian @GBNEWS @BBCNews @KemiBadenoch @Nigel_Farage @elonmusk @loosecollie @TWBFarms @wheat_daddy

[martin williams @loosecollie]

Surely there must be some humanity within government?
@RachelReevesMP @Keir_Starmer
@SteveReedMP @KemiBadenoch
@_RobbieMoore
@TWBFarms @wheat_daddy @agricontract

[martin williams @loosecollie]

This is why an amnesty for those trapped by policy and pressured into desperate thoughts and actions is essential immediately.
It allows space then to discuss the remaining issues.
No-one should be put in this position by any government.
@SteveReedMP
@RachelReevesMP @Keir_Starmer

@TWBFarms @agricontract @wheat_daddy

[martin williams @loosecollie]

Independent analysis using @DefraGovUK numbers.
Pretty damning really.
It's time to talk about this elephant in the room.
@Keir_Starmer @RachelReevesMP

This policy simply doesn't make sense.
@TWBFarms @agricontract @wheat_daddy

[Libby Bellamy @lib_bell]

@JRfromStrickley Tough times, stay strong, and keep writing on here !

[Joe Stanley @JoeWStanley]

Remarkable that the Chancellor is refusing even to meet with farming leaders.

Even the Prime Minister has had a 1-on-1.

Presumably @RachelReevesMP is reluctant to look Tom in the eye.

[James Rebanks @herdyshepherd1]

The government is spinning that they are offering a record level of support for British farming

This is CATEGORICALLY UNTRUE

I’m not sure they understand this point…

Let me explain…

[Andrew Ward 🇬🇧🚜 @wheat_daddy]

Do me a favour Defra, don’t tell porkies again. It’s a pity you don’t have a back bone. Cutting our delinked payments 76% is how you show commitment? And don’t bleat on about the £5billion budget over the next 2 years, with the above, it is an effective cut. 🤬

[James McMurdock MP @JMcMurdockMP]

China released more CO2 in 8 years than the UK in over 250!

This makes a mockery of every hardworking British family struggling with their energy bills.

[Richard Orr @richard_orr89]

The Northern Ireland farmers have spoken. Excellent event showing great unity in farming community with over 6k attendees at the rally against @RachelReevesMP family farm tax. And clear backing from all political parties.
@UFUHQ @NFUtweets @FarmersWeekly

[ClarksonsFarm @ClarksonsFarm1]

@elonmusk We won’t stand for it. Thanks for spreading awareness, Elon