Family farms will be decimated away to foot the tax bill – Robin Swann MP

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In Lisburn on Monday and London on Tuesday, Northern Ireland’s farmers are having their voices heard. Their message is clear - changes to the Agriculture Property Relief on inheritance tax is unacceptable and will debilitate family farms.

Robin Swann MP attended Tuesday’s protest events in London and met with delegations from the Ulster Farmers’ Union and the Young Farmers Clubs of Ulster.

Following the events, the South Antrim MP said: “Farmers are anxious, they’re angry and they feel let down by this government. Today’s protest in Westminster and the rally of 6,000 farmers in the Eikon Centre last night give an indication of just how important of an issue this is for farmers in Northern Ireland the UK as a whole.

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“The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs continues to underplay the significance of this change and the scale to which it will impact farmers, particularly in Northern Ireland where an acre of land has a higher value than in GB. A third of Northern Ireland’s farms, and 75% of dairy farms, will be affected by this. There are many farmers scared of what the future will look like for their children and grandchildren. The average income in Northern Ireland is £27,345, and these measures are making our family farms unsustainable. It will not allow for investment and modernisation on the farm.

MP Robin Swann pictured in  London with the delegation from the UFUMP Robin Swann pictured in  London with the delegation from the UFU
MP Robin Swann pictured in London with the delegation from the UFU

“The government must now reverse this decision, or at the very least raise the threshold at which farmers have to pay this inheritance tax to ensure the family farms which we rely on for food security are not chipped away to foot the tax bill.”

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