Over 20 councils have passed motions condemning Keir Starmer’s Tractor Tax in recent weeks, piling further pressure on the Government to U-turn on the policy.
In a stark warning to Labour, many of the 22 councils that have voted to oppose the tax hike are in areas where Labour recently won MPs for the first time.
They include Norfolk and Cornwall, suggesting Labour’s recent victories in the countryside could be swiftly reversed come the next election.
Town Halls that have passed motions condemning the tax represent almost 10 million voters, according to analysis by the Countryside Alliance, or equivalent to around one in six of the population across England and Wales.
The Countryside Alliance is now pushing for more councils to add their name to the growing list of opposing voices in the new year.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher of the Countryside Alliance said: “The list of councils opposing the family farm tax is growing quickly and we expect more will be signing up in the New Year.”
“This is undoubtedly a challenge for those rural Labour MPs representing seats in these council areas, many of whom understandably feel like they’ve been thrown under the bus by this hated policy.”
One Town Hall that recently voted to condemn the Tractor Tax was Rushcliffe in Nottinghamshire, which went Labour for the first time since 1966 in July.
Ruscliffe Council has demanded that the newly-elected MP James Naish lobby the Chancellor to drop her tax plans.
Councillor Neil Clarke, who leads the local authority, warns that the changes to inheritance tax “threaten to cripple many family farms” which have “no means to pay such punitive amounts”.
The Labour MP for High Peake, Jon Pearce, has been sidelined altogether by his borough council, after the local authority voted to write to the Chancellor directly to demand a U-turn.
Devon and Norfolk have also blasted Rachel Reeves’ “assault” on the countryside and “rural way of life”.
Cornwall, Kent, North Northamptonshire, Rutland, Somerset, Suffolk and Buckinghamshire councils also passed motions against the policy.
Ms Reeves’ Budget changes mean that those previously exempt from paying inheritance tax on agricultural land will now pay 20% tax on estates worth over £1 million.
Earlier this month a Labour MP with more than 1,600 farms in his constituency broke cover to condemn the government’s tax raid.
Markus Campbell-Savours, the new MP for Penrith and Solway, warned his front bench he was “not prepared to break my word” to farmers and would be prepared to vote against the Chancellor’s plans.
He told the Commons: “I’ve spent the last few weeks speaking with farmers in Penrith and Solway, trying to understand the full impact of the inheritance tax proposals knowing that I have months left to engage Defra and the Treasury and seek important amendments.
“And, let me be clear, if today was the real vote I would vote against the Government’s plans.
“I’m no rebel, I’m a moderate. But during the election I read what I thought were assurances from my party that we had no plans to introduce changes to APR. On this basis, I reassured farmers in my constituency that we would not. Now, I’m simply not prepared to break my word.
“I’m told that there is no Labour MP in the country with as many farms as I have in Penrith and Solway and I hope my colleagues will understand my feelings on this.
