Gransnet forums

News & politics

The Farmers Fight

(793 Posts)
Sarnia Mon 18-Nov-24 08:46:41

Infuriated farmers will be protesting against Labour's 'Tractor Tax' opposite Downing Street tomorrow. They are being asked not to bring farm machinery but I hope they clutter up Whitehall with every tractor and combine harvester they can lay their hands on. Reeves claims 'only' 20% of farms will be affected by her latest smash and grab raid but economists say it is nearer 70%. Has it not figured in her brain that if farmers, who already struggle to make ends meet, chuck in the towel, there will be a serious food shortage?

madalene Tue 19-Nov-24 19:30:58

all I can see on this thread is little understanding of rural communities

Yes indeed.

If food became limited there’d be a swift learning curve for some people.

Jeanathome Tue 19-Nov-24 19:35:46

Allira

Jeanathome

Apparently it's tough when you are bereaved to have to deal with.

What is also tough is finding the money for a funeral.

Pauper's funerals are provided by the LA.

Good to know.

Allira Tue 19-Nov-24 19:41:18

They can be very sad, though, Jeanathome.
DH and a friend went to one last year, it wasn't a good send-off.

LizzieDrip Tue 19-Nov-24 19:49:49

A parents' home will be sold, a family farm will pass down through the generations, producing food for you and others

So, those inheriting a farm are more deserving than those unable to inherit their parents’ home?

foxie48 Tue 19-Nov-24 19:53:45

GrannyGravy13

All I can see on this thread is little understanding of rural communities.

Not everyone with a 4 X 4 is as rich as Croesus.

Of course not, most are set against tax as a business expense. I live in a rural community, farming is a tough life for those that actually farm but so are lots of other occupations and they can be much less rewarding however people still pay their taxes. Many farms have struggled recently, they got hit by the increase in oil prices, can't get labour for the abattoirs which really affected pig farmers, the weather has been dreadful (climate change is really damaging crops as well as affecting stock) avian flu has affected the chicken/turkey farmers as well as those who breed birds for sport. They really have had a rubbish time so what you are seeing is a reaction to all that and the Conservatives did a poor job in replacing the EU farming subsidies. I'd be cross if I were a farmer but the fact remains, it's the really wealthy land owners who will get hit by this change in IHT not most farmers! They need help in running a viable business which is very different to being given special consideration when it comes to IHT. Lets focus on helping farmers who are alive rather than those who are dead!

Rosie51 Tue 19-Nov-24 19:59:13

Allira

LizzieDrip

I still don’t get why it’s so ‘tragic’ for farmers to ‘be unable to pass on their inheritance to their offspring’ but it’s OK that thousands of people are forced to sell their homes to pay for care in their old age … they are also ‘unable to pass on their inheritance to their offspring’.

No protests for them!

No comparison at all.

A parents' home will be sold, a family farm will pass down through the generations, producing food for you and others.

So little understanding on here of food production, it is quite frightening!

Well said * Allira*! The total ignorance to not understand the difference is astounding. I think much comes down to jealousy, some to the point of vindictiveness. There's precious little evidence of any cognitive understanding how farming and farms work. It's a unique business model that actually feeds us through hard relentless graft.

vegansrock Tue 19-Nov-24 20:00:45

Trouble is a lot of the land that is currently free from IHT is not productive land - it’s land used for horses or pets or just left as an investment or a tax avoidance scheme.

Rosie51 Tue 19-Nov-24 20:02:12

Farmers are more than Jeremy Clarkson.

This quote from someone directly affected from the BBC website

Three generations of the Lathan family have come to Westminster today, 86-year-old Robin, his son Phil, and his 15-year-old grandson Sam, who live on a dairy farm in Cheshire.
Phil tells me: “Dad's 86 and there's no time for him to take advice. And as for the seven year gifting rule, it’s unlikely at his age that he will get to the other side of that.
"And so inheriting the farm is going to cost me a fortune which threatens the viability of the business. The remarks that we get that its £3m - well it is not.
"Dad’s single, Mum died when I was 13. Sam's 15. He's desperate to be a farmer. And that's why we've come down.”

This £3m bandied about is the absolute upper figure if you fulfil all the criteria.

Rosie51 Tue 19-Nov-24 20:03:15

vegansrock

Trouble is a lot of the land that is currently free from IHT is not productive land - it’s land used for horses or pets or just left as an investment or a tax avoidance scheme.

Then tighten up the rules, but don't take a sledgehammer to all who own and work the land!

SueDonim Tue 19-Nov-24 20:21:47

Stella said Actually I agree with the Economist who said it should be 100% public services, public housing, parks and other public areas could then be so well funded than no one would need to inherit to have a good life!

What would be the point of going to work, then, if everything was provided FOC?

GrannyGravy13 Tue 19-Nov-24 20:30:47

SueDonim

Stella said Actually I agree with the Economist who said it should be 100% public services, public housing, parks and other public areas could then be so well funded than no one would need to inherit to have a good life!

What would be the point of going to work, then, if everything was provided FOC?

I do not want to live in a simile of North Korea!

I want to live in the U.K. which should encourage people to be the best version of themselves, and earn a living wage along with moving upwards and onwards.

LizzieDrip Tue 19-Nov-24 20:42:55

The total ignorance to not understand the difference is astounding. I think much comes down to jealousy, some to the point of vindictiveness. There's precious little evidence of any cognitive understanding how farming and farms work. It's a unique business model that actually feeds us through hard relentless graft

Ok Rosie, as I’m apparently ignorant, jealous and vindictive, please explain to me why farmers’ children deserve to inherit their parents’ farm more than my daughter deserves to inherit our family home.

I’m all ears - even in my ignorance, jealousy and vindictiveness.

Allira Tue 19-Nov-24 20:49:08

Rosie51

vegansrock

Trouble is a lot of the land that is currently free from IHT is not productive land - it’s land used for horses or pets or just left as an investment or a tax avoidance scheme.

Then tighten up the rules, but don't take a sledgehammer to all who own and work the land!

👏👏👏

Allira Tue 19-Nov-24 20:51:31

LizzieDrip

^The total ignorance to not understand the difference is astounding. I think much comes down to jealousy, some to the point of vindictiveness. There's precious little evidence of any cognitive understanding how farming and farms work. It's a unique business model that actually feeds us through hard relentless graft^

Ok Rosie, as I’m apparently ignorant, jealous and vindictive, please explain to me why farmers’ children deserve to inherit their parents’ farm more than my daughter deserves to inherit our family home.

I’m all ears - even in my ignorance, jealousy and vindictiveness.

If you don't understand, even after reading the thread, watching the news, reading reports (🤔) then there is just no point in trying to explain.

Rosie51 Tue 19-Nov-24 21:11:25

Allira

LizzieDrip

The total ignorance to not understand the difference is astounding. I think much comes down to jealousy, some to the point of vindictiveness. There's precious little evidence of any cognitive understanding how farming and farms work. It's a unique business model that actually feeds us through hard relentless graft

Ok Rosie, as I’m apparently ignorant, jealous and vindictive, please explain to me why farmers’ children deserve to inherit their parents’ farm more than my daughter deserves to inherit our family home.

I’m all ears - even in my ignorance, jealousy and vindictiveness.

If you don't understand, even after reading the thread, watching the news, reading reports (🤔) then there is just no point in trying to explain.

I do agree Allira but I'll try one more simple way.
LizzieDrip your family home doesn't benefit anyone but your family. Farmers provide the food we all need to live. They are not just passing on a property to live in but a working environment to feed the nation. If a farmer has to sell some of the land to pay the IHT then the farm becomes smaller, less viable. That land won't necessarily be kept for farming by the new owner. Do you want the UK to grow its own food or are you happy just importing everything?

Your statement here demonstrates pure envy, why should they have something I don't. Surely you can see that? Why should MPs get expenses the rest of us don't? I don't remember you having a problem with that.

merlotgran Tue 19-Nov-24 21:12:17

Some people just can’t see beyond the farmhouse, the car in the drive and kiddies’ ponies in the paddock - if they’re there at all and not a figment of the imagination.

They also can’t imagine what it must be like to work for the farmer as a tractor driver or stockman and lose your livelihood and possibly your home if the farm has to be sold and you’re the wrong side of fifty.

GrannyGravy13 Tue 19-Nov-24 21:15:29

merlotgran 👏👏👏

Oreo Tue 19-Nov-24 21:17:32

LizzieDrip

^A parents' home will be sold, a family farm will pass down through the generations, producing food for you and others^

So, those inheriting a farm are more deserving than those unable to inherit their parents’ home?

In a word, yes!
Farms produce food be it livestock and/or planted crops and if it just becomes too much taxes wise then young adults, the children of farming families will just have to sell up as it won’t be worth it.
It’s yet another really odd policy by Labour and a direct consequence of not putting up income tax and NI meaning they are scrabbling round trying to save money by angering both farmers and pensioners.Am wondering what’s coming next tbh and getting a bit worried about their performance so far.🙀

Allira Tue 19-Nov-24 21:20:21

merlotgran

Some people just can’t see beyond the farmhouse, the car in the drive and kiddies’ ponies in the paddock - if they’re there at all and not a figment of the imagination.

They also can’t imagine what it must be like to work for the farmer as a tractor driver or stockman and lose your livelihood and possibly your home if the farm has to be sold and you’re the wrong side of fifty.

Yes, the house is irrelevant really.

If the land is fertile does that attract more IHT because it is more valuable?

The equipment? Presumably tractors, combine harvesters etc are included in the assets when calculating IHT, as with a household's assets which have to be listed now?

This is a tax introduced by someone who really has no clue whatsoever about food production.

Its advocates have no idea either.

LizzieDrip Tue 19-Nov-24 21:41:37

I resent being called envious Rosie.

I have tried to avoid name calling and derogatory personal comments on this thread - despite many being on the tip of my tongue.

I do not agree with your comments but I’ll leave it there.

Allira Tue 19-Nov-24 21:50:01

LizzieDrip

I resent being called envious Rosie.

I have tried to avoid name calling and derogatory personal comments on this thread - despite many being on the tip of my tongue.

I do not agree with your comments but I’ll leave it there.

🤔

I assumed Rosie51's comments were a generalisation and did not seem to be a personal attack but it is worrying that some people equate levying IHT on a parents' house with that on a food-producing farm, as the difference is quite obvious.

mabon1 Tue 19-Nov-24 22:00:28

The farmers have forgotten how much they have bee subsidised since World War 11. How many other family businesses have had money thrown at them for 80 years?

LizzieDrip Tue 19-Nov-24 22:01:46

Rosie’s comment directly to me at 21:11:

Your statement here demonstrates pure envy

GrannyGravy13 Tue 19-Nov-24 22:04:50

mabon1

The farmers have forgotten how much they have bee subsidised since World War 11. How many other family businesses have had money thrown at them for 80 years?

They feed us!

LizzieDrip Tue 19-Nov-24 22:05:54

it is worrying that some people equate levying IHT on a parents' house with that on a food-producing farm

Allira if you read the thread, you will see that I’m not equating those two things.