Labour’s plans to slap inheritance tax on the sale of farms are a threat to mental health in already-struggling farming communities, the Government will be warned this week.
A special debate in the House of Commons will put the spotlight on stress and isolation faced by farmers and their families. This follows outcry at Chancellor Rachel Reeves’s plans to limit inheritance tax relief for farms from April 2026.
Newly-elected Conservative MP Aphra Brandreth said: “The decisions that ministers in Whitehall make have a direct impact on the mental health and wellbeing of people in our farming communities. At a time when the Government should be backing our farmers, they have decided to hit them with higher taxes and increased regulation.
“Labour committed at the election not to increase taxes on working people. Local farmers are some of the hardest working people I know.”
Ms Brandreth warned the changes risk “decimating the farming industry and seeing the end of the family farm”.
She said: “Decisions like these will do nothing to reduce the stress and improve the mental wellbeing of farming families.”
Her concerns are shared by the National Farmers’ Union.
The union’s Aled Jones, an eighth-generation farmer based in Caernarfon, said: “Farmers were already under an extreme amount of pressure, whether that be due to rising costs, the weather, regulation or policy changes to name but a few.
“There is no doubt that the decision by the Chancellor to introduce a tax on the passing on of our family farms to the next generation is a massive added burden and will leave many farmers with neither the means, confidence nor the incentive to invest in the future of their business.”
He said this has had an impact on the mental health of farming families across the country and urged anyone who is struggling to contact agencies that help.
Under the changes, the full 100 per cent relief from inheritance tax will be restricted to the first £1million of “combined agricultural and business property”.
Beyond this, landowners will be taxed at 20 per cent but this can be paid over a decade interest-free.
A mass protest by farmers is planned in London for November 19. Organisers want to stage the biggest food bank donation with home-grown produce.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher of the Countryside Alliance said: “We know that mental health is an unspoken illness that still remains a taboo subject for too many people in the countryside.
“The difficulties faced by farmers on a daily basis cannot be understated and this debate comes at a very significant time politically, when there is genuine anxiety among many farmers and their families about the future.”
Ms Brandreth said people in farming communities have a “just get on with it” attitude and work “incredibly long and unsociable” hours which makes it hard for them to talk about their struggles.
The MP wants mental health services to have less of a focus on “urban city centres” and warned that farming is facing a “recruitment crisis” which has led to low morale.
Other problems include “transport isolation” and lack of reliable mobile phone connections.
A Government spokeswoman said: “The government’s commitment to our farmers remains steadfast. It’s why we have committed £5billion to the farming budget over two years – more money than ever for sustainable food production.
“We understand concerns about changes to Agricultural Property Relief but the majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.
“This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on.”
