Kemi Badenoch vows to reverse heartless family farms tax if Labour won't u-turn

Kemi Badenoch has vowed to abolish Labour's "immoral and cruel" family farms tax if she wins the next general election. Speaking on a visit to a farm in Sevenoaks today, the Conservative Party leader reasserted her vow to help Britain's rural communities.

Ms Badenoch said Labour must reverse its decision or risk harming farming in this country "forever". She said: "It is an immoral and cruel tax, Labour should reverse it, and I have promised that the minute Conservatives get into government, if Labour do not reverse this - we will. Farmers should not have to sell their land and sell their equipment to pay a tax."

"It doesn't make any sense at all. It's been dreamt up by people who don't understand farming and don't understand how it works in this country."

Accompanied by her shadow education minister and local MP Laura Trott, Ms Badenoch said her party is searching for "fresh" ideas to help start the Conservative Party anew.

Speaking to local farmer Fidelity Weston in a field of grazing cows, Ms Badenoch said: "We want to start afresh rather than just building on what's been done before which isn't working."

Rachel Reeves announced the tax on farmers in her first budget, claiming she needed to find cash to fill a £22 billion black hole left behind by the previous government.

Previously, farmland was exempt from inheritance tax under the Agricultural Property Relief scheme.

The Government's new policy means that from April 2026 a tax of 20% will be applied to agricultural assets of over £1 million.

However many farmers will be forced to sell land in order to fund the tax raid, hitting Britain's food security.

While Ms Reeves claimed the policy will raise £520 million, experts have said it will only raise £115 million a year.

In March further research suggested the tax will actually cost the economy £14.9 billion a year, with the potential loss of 200,000 thousands jobs.

According to consultancy CBI-Economics, 17% of family farms have already cut jobs or halted recruitment since the Chancellor's October Budget.

Nearly half of all family farms also reported that they have paused or cancelled investment plans as a result of the pending tax hike.

Neil Davy, the chief executive of Family Business UK, said: "Against a backdrop of huge uncertainty in global geopolitics and UK economic growth, these latest data show unequivocally the damage that is already being done to Britain's family-owned businesses and farms and the wider economy.

"Ultimately, it will be the working people, and communities right across the country, who depend on family-owned businesses and farms who'll pay the price."