CP
Britain’s farmers are warning of a countryside collapse after a record number of agricultural businesses shut down in the wake of Labour’s controversial inheritance tax changes.
A shocking 6,365 agriculture, forestry, and fishing businesses were forced to close over the past year, according to official figures from the Office for National Statistics – the highest number since records began in 2017.
The dramatic downturn came in the months following Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s October tax raid, which slashed relief on inheritance tax for family farms.
Currently, farms avoid the usual 40% inheritance tax – but under Reeves’s new rules, coming into force in 2026, anything above £1m will be hit with a 20% charge. Farmers say it’s a death sentence for family-run operations already struggling with soaring costs and bad harvests.
Just 3,190 new rural businesses were launched during the same period, leaving a net loss of 3,175 farms – the steepest drop on record.
Tory Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins slammed Labour’s tax policies, saying:
“The crippling NICs [National Insurance contributions] increases, alongside the family farm and family firm taxes, are destroying generational businesses, creating job instability and even leading to devastating suicides.
These statistics prove that Labour do not understand our rural communities – and our rural communities cannot afford Labour.”
‘We’re being beaten from post to pillar’
Farmers say they’re being crushed not just by taxes, but by spiralling fertiliser costs, climate chaos, and punishing red tape.
Many now fear they’ll be forced to sell off parts of their land just to cover inheritance tax bills. The burden, they say, is pushing the next generation out of farming altogether.
Tom Bradshaw, President of the National Farmers’ Union, said:
“Confidence is at rock-bottom.
The inheritance tax rise is another bitter blow and another attack. It creates this continuing sense that the industry isn’t valued.”
Victoria Vyvyan, of the Country Land and Business Association, warned:
“This report says what ministers won’t: rural businesses are being pushed to the edge.
Still, the countryside carries on. But grit isn’t a strategy. What’s needed now is simple: stability, clarity, and a government willing to listen – before more farms are lost and more families are forced out.”
‘They’ve taxed us to death’
In rural Britain, the mood is angry – and grim.
One Devon farmer, who’s been working the same land for 40 years, told The Post:
“We’re being taxed to death. My son doesn’t want to take over because he says he’d rather stack shelves than inherit debt. And I don’t blame him.”
A Yorkshire sheep farmer said:
“I’ve spent my life keeping this place afloat. Now Labour want to rip it out from under our feet just to line Treasury coffers. It’s daylight robbery.”
And a third, from Herefordshire, added:
“We’ve been beaten from post to pillar. The tax, the paperwork, the regulations – it’s like they want rid of us.”
With confidence at rock-bottom and more closures looming, rural Britain is warning: ignore us at your peril.
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