Andy Burnham has been in Downing Street for a day, and rural Britain has already presented its first invoice. Farmers, landowners and the wider rural economy want the new Prime Minister and surprise Chancellor, John Healey, to reverse the inheritance tax reforms that have disrupted British agriculture from 2024.
The pressure is squarely on the new No 11, a former Treasury minister who has inherited the most controversial tax policy of the Labor era alongside the national ledger.
The row dates back to Rachel Reeves’ first Budget, when she announced that agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR), mechanisms that allow farms and family businesses to be passed down between generations without a tax bill forcing the sale, will be limited from April 2026.
After months of bulldozer protests in Westminster, the government blinked before Christmas. The 100 per cent relief limit has been increased from £1 million to £2.5 million per inheritance, with married couples able to combine the allowances to £5 million, and 50 per cent relief above that. According to the House of Commons Library, the Treasury expects the deal to reduce the number of affected areas, from 375 to 185 by 2026-27.
For many in the field that was a limitation, not a solution. The Country Land and Business Association said the changes could affect up to 70,000 farms, and a group of farmers took the government to the High Court in March for a review over the lack of formal consultation on the changes.
What gives the campaign new teeth are Burnham’s own words. While campaigning in the Makerfield by-election, he said: “I myself have heard about family farming and I think it should be looked at again.”
Groups of farmers intend to arrest him. CLA director for the north Harriet Ranson said: “So far, he has made a number of commitments to the agriculture and food sector such as promising to revisit the estate tax which is restricting growth on farms, and directing the public sector to buy more food locally.”
He added: “I am very hopeful that our ‘prime minister-in-waiting’ will appreciate the entrepreneurial mindset and entrepreneurial mindsets that build the rural economy and work with us to strengthen food production, restore the environment and the vital skills of the communities we represent.”
The award, in the opinion of the Ministry of Finance, is a small income. The crash is a repeat of the scenes that have defined the past 18 months: bulldozers in Whitehall, farm gate protests and a rural economy that feels special. NFU president Tom Bradshaw described December’s concession as “a huge relief for many”, while CLA president Gavin Lane said it protected family farms from “seeing their businesses taxed away”. No organization considers this matter closed.
For Burnham, politics is well balanced. He has already signaled that there is “room for movement” in the tax, promising a reduction in business rates for bars and high-end industries. Extending that flexibility to the countryside could delight a sector that includes everything from dairy farms to various tourist attractions, a range of businesses celebrated at the Rural Business Awards, which will be held at the National Conference Center in November.
For rural business owners, the practical advice has not changed: succession planning cannot wait for Westminster. But with the Prime Minister on record promising to look again, and the Chancellor with his first budget to write this autumn, rural areas have not had a clear window to press charges.
