Inheritance Tax

John Lamont Excerpts

Wednesday 14th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Robbie Moore]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point, because that was exactly the narrative that his farmers put to me when I was lucky enough to visit them in Norfolk late last week. If someone is running a family business, the rate of return on their capital might be 1%, but they are lucky if they are getting that. Therefore, there is no return, yet when a valuation of that farm is made on death—not just of the farmland; there might be a farmhouse, a cottage or two, growing crops, stocks in store, machinery and livestock—they are well above that threshold of £2.5 million or £5 million if they are married, and the farming business is then subject to a liability. That is tough, which is why I was so shocked when not one Liberal Democrat MP voted against the implementation of the fertiliser tax, which has made it much more difficult for those family farming businesses.

Then there was the cliff edge in April 2026, when no real warning was given to many of those family businesses. A cruel cliff edge existed, and as a matter of fact—it gives me no pleasure to say this—lives have been lost as a result of the decisions that this Labour Government have made. There has been suicide recorded in coroner’s reports as a result of this Labour Government’s choices through the implementation of inheritance tax changes.

[John Lamont (Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk) (Con)]

My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, but I wonder if he spotted this quote?

“Although many of my farmers tell me the earlier U-turns made a substantial difference, others are still deeply worried about the impact this policy will have when passing a sustainable farm business to the next generation”.

He might be aware that those are the words of the hon. Member for Penrith and Solway (Markus Campbell-Savours)—a Labour Member; they are part of his call for the Labour Government to completely scrap their plans to abolish agricultural property relief. The hon. Gentleman is right: the Labour Government should scrap it completely.

[Robbie Moore]

That is absolutely right. It is good to see the hon. Member for Penrith and Solway (Markus Campbell-Savours) in his place. I hope that he will intervene in the debate and make it clear that he is also advocating for this cruel tax to be scrapped, just as the Conservatives are doing. There is hope when at least one Labour Member is willing to be bold enough to stand up against this Labour Government.