Labour MP warns PM that farmers are considering taking their lives over IHT changes
16th December 2025
“The prime minister needs to think again and reflect on the unintended consequences of inheritance tax changes for farmers,” said a Labour MP who warned Keir Starmer that some farmers are considering taking their lives due to changes to IHT coming into force next year.
During the Liaison Committee meeting, Cat Smith, Labour MP for Lancaster and Wyre, asked the PM if the government is on the “side of working people”.
She said: “Last year rural communities, including many farmers, put their trust in Labour for the very first time in a very long time and gave us a mandate for change in this country.
“However, and I hear this from many of the 950 farm holdings in my constituency, feel like they were misled around the changes to IHT and APR, which are going to pull the rug from underneath farming communities and obliterate the family farm for many farmers.”
The MP said that many elderly or terminally ill farmers are now considering taking their lives before the legislation comes into force in April 2026.
Cat Smith MP then asked PM Starmer if he can see how farmers can feel that this government has not necessarily treated them the way that they expect to be treated as working people.
The PM said: “I do understand the concern, and I met with the president of the NFU just last week, as I’ve met with him before, to run through the particular concerns they have.
“I do think on agricultural property relief, there had to be sensible reform. And I think this is sensible reform.”
PM Starmer has also mentioned a ‘roadmap for farming’ that the government is currently agreeing on and the profitability review led by Baroness Batters.
‘PM needs to listen’
Conservative Party chairman Kevin Hollinrake said that the Liaison Committee appearance shows that PM Starmer is “once again putting party before country”.
“He has acknowledged that farmers are taking their own lives following the introduction of his family farm tax, yet he still refuses to change course. He claims to have taken action in the past against those who leak sensitive information but could not say when or how. It is a litany of failures from a weak prime minister.”
Kevin Hollinrake MP added that Keir Starmer needs to “grow a backbone, listen to the serious concerns being raised, including by his own MPs, and start governing in the national interest rather than protecting his own position.”
Cat Smith MP posted on her social media: ‘The principle of tackling tax avoidance on large country estates, I think, is correct, but the small family farm risks becoming collateral damage. The well-intentioned updates to the spousal transfer announced at the Budget will help some, but not all.’
During Budget 2024, chancellor Reeves announced that from April 2026, the first £1m of combined business and agricultural assets will continue to attract no inheritance tax. However, for assets over £1m, inheritance tax will apply with 50% relief.
Budget 2025: Change to IHT announced
‘Huge missed opportunity’ – Industry responds to Budget announcement
Read more political news.
