The Tory councillors plan to table a motion at Thursday’s meeting of the full council, which also urges the Labour-led Council to “work harder to understand York’s agricultural communities.”
According to official data, around 250 farms across York could be impacted by the Government’s proposed cuts to Agricultural Property Relief.
Taken together, York’s farms cover around 18,000 hectares of farmland and countryside, they say.
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The farms directly employ hundreds of local people across the area, and support many more jobs in the local suppliers and distributors that depend on their produce. Many of the local butchers in York are linked to these farms in some way.
The Conservatives argue that although on paper, these farms may seem like valuable assets, this often does not translate into high incomes or cashflow and the situation has worsened over the years with rising input costs such as high energy prices.
Whilst Labour claim most farms would be unaffected by the removal of APR, the Conservatives say the reality is that these changes would likely mean the break-up of farms which do not have the funds to pay the Inheritance Tax charge – many of these farms having been in families for hundreds of years.
Conservative Group Leader, Cllr Chris Steward said: “Labour like to pretend this is about tackling rich farmers, but as anyone who has spent any time on a farm knows this is simply not the reality. There is significant hardship in many rural communities and people working hard to feed us deserve more support.
“Bringing in IHT on farms will threaten the countryside and food security, as families that have been custodians of our farms for generations will struggle to continue and will be replaced by large companies and the overseas wealthy.”
“We already import around 40% of the food we eat in the UK, and this tax is only going to make things even worse. That’s why we are calling for more work to be done by Labour locally and nationally to understand the true state of British farming. It’s time they came down from their Ivory tower and spent some time on a Yorkshire farm.”
York Central Labour MP Rachael Maskell told the Press that her constituency had no farms, but she would shortly be meeting with the Rural Payments Agency at DEFRA.
York Outer Labour MP Luke Charters did not respond to our request for comment.
However, Mr Charters said in a recent parliamentary debate on the inheritance tax issue: “I am proud to represent many wonderful farming communities. The young farmers I meet tell me that one of their biggest challenges is accessing rural mental health services. Does my hon. Friend welcome the record £22 billion extra going into the NHS, which will support access to rural mental health services?”
Earlier this week, the MP spoke in Parliament on flooding, biosecurity and mental health matters affecting farmers.
He told the House: “Rural communities voted for change earlier this year. That is why there are many Labour MPs who are hard-working advocates for their rural communities—as passionate as I am.”
Mr Charters added: “ I will always be a champion for our rural communities, and I will work cross-party on many of the issues that I have mentioned.”
