皇家华人

The campaign was launched following announcements by Chancellor Rachel Reeves during the Budget last October,听which dealt a hammer blow to farming families nationwide with changes to Agriculture Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR).听After decades of tightening margins, record inflation, increased production costs and extreme weather, many farmers and growers are at breaking point and simply will not be able to afford the increased听tax bill they will now face. 听

Evidence from the NFU, in consultation with former Treasury and Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) economists to inform analysis of the impacts of APR reforms on commercial family farms, found that up to 75% of working farms could be affected, with some facing tax bills of 拢100,000s.

And just this week, the OBR produced a new report saying that government changes to inheritance tax (IHT) on farms will likely leave elderly farmers horribly exposed, with no time to manage their way through the new policy.

With the likely loss of family farm businesses as a result of this tax, alongside increases in employment costs also announced in the Budget, there a real risk to UK food production.听

Tomorrow (Saturday 25 January), events co-ordinated by the NFU, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland and Ulster Farmers鈥� Union, will take place across the UK as part of a National Day of Unity. Farmers will gather in towns and cities to thank the British public for their support听in this campaign听and to underline that the farming industry will continue to fight听in the face of this unjust policy听until the tax is subject听to proper scrutiny.

In a statement, the four Presidents of the UK farming unions said: 鈥淭he public in huge numbers, more than听270,000, have signed this family farm tax听petition听expressing their anger and frustration at the utter contempt shown by听the government听for the people who produce the nation鈥檚 food. It gives us great strength to know that the public are backing British farming听at this critical moment in time.

鈥淭he industry is not taking this lying down.听The government has woken a sleeping giant,听as our mass lobby of MPs in Westminster and the farmer听led听rally in Whitehall听have demonstrated.

鈥淭omorrow, we go again. The National Day of Unity provides another opportunity to call on the government to overturn this abhorrent policy. It鈥檚 a day to come together for everyone who believes that Britain鈥檚 family farms, and the high-quality food they produce, deserve better.

鈥淔armers at events across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland听will be on hand to听speak with the听public to explain听why changes to APR and BPR stand to punish听food-producing businesses,听destroying听generations of work from hard-pressed farming听families and听changing the face of our听rural communities forever.

鈥淕overnment听must take action. We鈥檙e asking the Chancellor to listen to farmers and meet with us to hear and fully understand our very real concerns. Rest assured, the UK farming unions will not sit quietly and let this go 鈥� we will continue fighting听because this is not just about our farms, but our families,听our future听and your food.鈥�

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Notes to editor:

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1. The Presidents of the UK farming unions are Tom Bradshaw (NFU), Aled Jones (NFU Cymru), Martin Kennedy (NFU Scotland) and William Irvine (Ulster Farmers Union).
2. Due to travel restrictions imposed as a result of Storm Eowyn, the Presidents of NFU Scotland and Ulster Farmers鈥� Union were not able to be present as planned to hand over the petition.
3. More on the Stop the Family Farm Tax campaign and National Day of Unity can be found here.

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