‘The proposed changes to inheritance tax are not fair, not workable, and not grounded in a proper understanding of Northern Ireland’s farming structure.’ This was the clear message that a delegation of Ulster Farmers’ Union members delivered directly to backbench labour MPs in an event at Westminster last night. The UFU event, ‘Securing the Future of Family Farming in Northern Ireland’, was hosted by Labour MP Adam Jogee and members also heard from NI Affairs Select committee chair, Labour MP, Tonia Antoniazzi and Conservative Shadow Farming Minister Robbie Moore MP on the night.
Today, the UFU delegation held productive discussions with MPs and Peers of all parties, delivered a signed letter to the Treasury and engaged in a rally in opposition to family farm tax proposals.
Speaking following the event and engagements, UFU president William Irvine stated, “Our farmers have been forced to travel from Northern Ireland to Westminster to deliver their personal stories and fears directly to the policymakers responsible for Budget decisions, as the Chancellor is refusing to listen.
“At our event last night and meetings today, members pleaded with backbench MPs to urgently change course on proposed changes to inheritance tax, stating plainly that it would lead to the ruin of livelihoods and farms which have taken generations to build.”
UFU staff and members stressed to MPs how farmers in Northern Ireland will be severely and disproportionately affected by the devastating IHT proposals due to the unique owner-occupied farming structure in Northern Ireland and significantly higher land values.
“These are not large estates or wealthy landowners, these are ordinary working farms, often held by a single individual, where assets are tied up in land, machinery, and livestock rather than cash. Farming in NI is asset-rich but cash-poor, and the reality is that many families simply cannot raise the liquidity required within the short timeframe to meet the tax bills these proposals would create. The proposals are not only unworkable but profoundly unfair – it’s a tax on tragedy,” said the president.
“We will continue to plead with MPs to stand with our families – to listen to their lived experience and work with us to secure a fair and workable approach. This is people’s lives, their homes, their land and the decisions made here will ripple through generations.”
