Nick Timothy — the MP for West Suffolk — sat down to listen to the concerns and views of local arable farmers on Friday 28 February 2025.
It was one of many meetings that Mr Timothy has had with local farmers, both in West Suffolk and at Westminster, since the Government announced its family farms tax in the Autumn Budget.
From 6 April 2026, the full 100 per cent relief from inheritance tax (IHT) for farms will be restricted to the first £1m of combined agricultural and business property.
Assets above the threshold will be subject to an effective 20 per cent inheritance tax charge so thousands of farmers will have to start paying death duties.
The meeting was held near Ingham, just outside Bury St Edmunds, on Friday 28 February — just as farmers were planning another protest against the family farms tax at Westminster on Tuesday 4th March. (Below is a picture of a recent protest against the Government’s family farms tax in Haverhill.)
The farmers, who were joined by representatives of British Sugar, told Mr Timothy about the various challenges and opportunities involved in growing sugar beet as well as rapeseed, wheat and barley.
They discussed the research being done, for example by the British Beet Research Organisation in Norwich, to examine how to increase yields and create new seed strains that are more resistant to disease. (Below Nick is pictured with farmers protesting the Government’s inheritance tax rise recently in Haverhill).
Apart from the huge pressure caused by the change in IHT rules, farmers also expressed their view that they are not competing on a level playing field with the foreign suppliers of food to British supermarkets.
This is because British farmers are subject to a huge number of environmental and other regulations, for example on the use of certain pesticides, which many overseas producers are not.
Mr Timothy said: “The Government has broken its promises to farmers and is threatening their very existence. We need a new approach so farmers can thrive and grow their businesses for generations to come.
“What is clear is that arable and other farmers face major challenges, including an unreasonable burden of rules and regulations that force them to compete on an uneven playing field with producers from overseas.
“We need to support farmers so they can do what we all need them to do: grow good food.
“And we will go on opposing the cruel family farms tax imposed by this Government. It is wrong, and I will continue to stand alongside Suffolk’s farmers in opposing this destructive tax.”
