Editor’s View: Kindness still has power amid IHT debacle
© Phil Weedon No one was terribly surprised by this week’s news that the Treasury will press on with its plan to reform inheritance tax (IHT) with virtually no changes to what had been previously announced.
Since farmers last brought tractors to Westminster in the spring, many have continued to press the case that the tax is counterproductive, the government’s figures are wrong and there is another way to raise the revenue: the clawback mechanism.
And while this effort has not yielded anything substantial, those that have strained every sinew to persuade members of the government, backbench MPs and civil servants of the error of their ways are still to be commended.
See also: UK Treasury dismisses threat to food security from IHT plans
About the author
We learned anew how different the conversations on this topic are within the Treasury compared to outside its walls when one of the principal architects of the policy revealed he had been given an “Expert of the Year” award for his work on the project.
If that doesn’t illustrate the gulf between those implementing the tax and those who will be afflicted by it, then nothing will.
Some hoped that after other Labour policy reversals, such as on the winter fuel allowance, there may be wiggle room for change in this area too. But that does not appear to be the case.
Indeed, prime minister Sir Keir Starmer’s recent suspension of four Labour MPs from the parliamentary party for repeated rebellion over the welfare reform bill will send sympathetic rural Labour MPs further underground.
Rural lobbyists also lament how difficult they have found it to mobilise the wider business community to the cause, with family businesses from all sectors potentially impacted by the changes to business property relief.
So what next? The likelihood of an outbreak of common sense is now vanishingly small. If you haven’t yet reviewed what the impact will be on your business, now is the time to start.
In the meantime, there is still no harm in making representations to MPs – as hundreds of NFU members have done so this summer, through letters written on show pavilions across the country.
A small group of farmers and family business owners is also seeking a judicial review of the government’s decision to push this through without appropriate consultation.
There is limited upside to this – the best-case outcome is that the government will relent and hold a consultation, but that would probably only delay – rather than change – the outcome.
The final action that we can all take between now and the new tax year – when these changes are scheduled to come into effect – is to redouble efforts to support one another.
We all know families who are caught in a situation whereby they simply do not have time to mitigate the impact of these changes due to being in poor health or very advanced in age.
Dark warnings have been made about what some farmers may choose to do.
If it does happen, we will report on it. But at every level of our industry, we must resist talking it into reality. Even as hope recedes, friendship and kindness can still achieve much.