Farmers say they have been lied to over new 'tractor tax'

Environment secretary Steve Reed has hit back following a storm of criticism over the government's plans to extend inheritance tax to family farms, claiming the "vast majority of farmers will not be affected at all".

- MILLIE COOKE

He blamed "misleading headlines" for the backlash to the tax, saying "only the richest estates" will be affected.

Mr Reed’s response comes just days after Sir Keir Starmer was accused of lying to farmers about wanting “a new relationship” with them after the Budget extended the tax to family farms for the first time in history. The move, which has already been dubbed the “tractor tax”, means farms worth more than £1m are now subject to 20 per cent inheritance tax.

Writing in The Daily Telegraph, Mr Reed said the government has taken a “fair and balanced approach that protects family farms while also fixing the public services those same families rely on”.

“I completely understand farmers’ anxiety at any changes. But rural communities need a better NHS, affordable housing and public transport that we can provide if we make the system fairer. Only the richest estates will be asked to pay – not small, family farms as some misleading headlines have claimed.