Meeting of the Parliament 13 November 2024
I shall try hard to temper my words in order to obey that instruction, Deputy Presiding Officer.
I thank the Conservatives for bringing this debate to the chamber. I want to lay to rest the notion that the Scottish Parliament and the Scottish Government do not understand rural communities and, at worst, do not represent them. I represented the South of Scotland region for 12 years and I have represented Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale for the past 13 years. Indeed, I lived in rural Galloway for more than a decade. Therefore, like many people here—because, across the chamber, many of us represent wholly or largely rural communities—I hope that I am sufficiently appraised of the varying requirements of rural areas. During those 25 years, I have visited many estates, such as Burncastle and Arniston, and farms in the Borders, such as Baddinsgill, Moorfoot and Eastside. Although I cannot begin to approach the knowledge of Tim Eagle, I am not completely a townie.
The party that appears to have little concept of rurality and, in particular, rural farming communities and landscapes in Scotland is the Labour Party. I do not think that I am being unfair when I say that, because the recent actions of Sir Keir Starmer in respect of inheritance tax and changes to agricultural property relief, on top of changes to farming payments following Brexit, are evidence of it. I add to those actions the additional national insurance obligations, which will also fall on those farmers who are employers, and the pressure on farmers from supermarkets to always keep prices down.
In December 2023, Steve Reed MP—who is now the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and was then the shadow secretary for the department—stated that Labour had no plans to change inheritance tax, including APR. Well, we know what happened there, and what happened with regard to the national insurance contributions of employers, including farmers, who are apparently not “working people.”
There are many farms across Midlothian South, Tweeddale and Lauderdale that will be affected, because it does not take much for a farm’s assets to cross the £1 million barrier when a high-end combine harvester can cost nearly £750,000. I am therefore grateful to the NFUS for its briefing, which includes working examples of the impact of inheritance tax and APR. It says:
“an IHT qualifying farm with a value of £4 million would mean £1 million will have 100 per cent relief. The remaining £3 million will receive 50 per cent relief, seeing £1.5 million subject to IHT at a 40 per cent rate. That would equate to a £600,000 IHT bill in this example. Although the payments can be spread over 10 years, the first £60,000 will require to be paid within six months. Many farm businesses would not have this amount available which will mean some land would need to be sold thereby bringing into question the future viability of the farm.”
Farming is a family matter for many, as others have said. It is personal, intergenerational and a vocation. It is literally—not to abuse that much-used word—under farmers’ fingernails. Farmers provide not only the quality food on our tables, high animal welfare standards and quality exports, but the landscape that we take for granted. I add in passing that there may well also be an additional punitive levy on exports to the USA.
The levies have been set with no impact assessment or engagement with the sector, and the UK Government has completely failed to respect devolution by engaging with the Scottish Government. There is no rural visa on the horizon, either. What more does the Labour UK Government intend to do to undermine our farming and rural communities, many of which, as Beatrice Wishart said, are reliant on local farms? Those things will affect not just the farms, but all the local businesses.
15:25