Prepare Now for this Generational Shift in Rural Business Planning
First proposed in the Autumn 2024 Budget, these changes will see relief fall from 100% to 50% on any qualifying value above £1 million, effectively opening up farming families and diversified rural businesses to a level of inheritance tax exposure unseen for generations.
And let's be clear, a £1 million threshold is all but meaningless in the context of modern farming. The capital required to operate even a modestly sized agricultural business far exceeds that figure. This is not a tax on excess; it is a tax on resilience, on succession, and ultimately, on viability.
Many had hoped the Government would reconsider. As we saw with winter fuel payments and disability benefits, it has proved willing to change course under pressure. Rural communities were right to expect the same recognition for the essential contribution they make to national life – securing our food supply, improving public health, sequestering carbon and reversing biodiversity loss. These aren't peripheral goals, but foundational to the UK's ability to withstand and adapt to global pressures and the existential threats that we face today.
Our call in October 2024 was that Ministers would grasp the scale of these implications ahead of the reforms taking effect in April 2026, and use the time to deliver a more coherent policy framework – one that supported the farm businesses at the heart of delivering solutions to so many of society's big issues, provide investors with confidence and ensure that land managers were equipped to meet the multiple, and often competing, demands of food production, climate action, environmental enhancement and community value. This publication suggests otherwise.
The protests seen across the UK – tractor convoys in Westminster and widespread public support – made it clear that this was not a niche concern. They helped the country pause and reflect on the vital role our farmers play. Unfortunately, that message seems to have fallen on deaf ears.
We do not underestimate the Government's task in balancing the books. But it is particularly surprising to see the lack of response to the business community, which has made plain the impact on jobs and the broader consequences of this policy. The reality is that BPR, not APR, is the true time bomb here. That Ministers have ignored the wider business lobby, at a time when they are also championing growth and innovation, is a contradiction they have yet to reconcile. These were, after all, Labour-originated reliefs, introduced during periods of national economic stress to help family businesses underpin the recovery. It is disheartening to see that history forgotten.
The impact will be uneven but serious. Long-standing family businesses, encouraged to diversify, to modernise, to innovate and lead on environmental delivery, now face a triple bind: higher tax, reduced support and rising operational pressure. And while tenant farmers will not face inheritance tax on land they farm, they will be hit by the changes to BPR and pensions and the knock-on effects on landlords and future tenancies cannot be ignored.
At a time when the sector is already struggling, due to rising costs, labour shortages, and policy volatility this legislation risks being the final straw for some.
Looking forward, the timeline for action is narrowing. While we will continue to advocate for a more balanced and supportive approach, landowners must now focus on preparation. That means understanding the value of their holdings and financial implications of the tax charge, stress-testing succession plans and the business restructuring that may be necessary as part of these, assessing practical options, such as the use of conditional exemption and lifetime gifts, reviewing trust arrangements, and understanding how life insurance might help.
While this may prove to be the biggest generational shift in rural business planning for decades, there are options, which Knight Frank is supporting clients to navigate. For those not already focused on this issue now is the time to act. Being prepared for what is coming is essential.
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North Wales Chronicle
15 minutes ago
- North Wales Chronicle
Badenoch suggests migrants held in ‘camps' as crossings near 50,000 under Labour
The Conservative Party leader warned that some communities 'don't feel safe', as she visited Epping in Essex, where protesters have gathered in recent weeks opposing the decision to house asylum seekers in local hotels. Latest Home Office figures show that 49,797 people have arrived on British shores by small boat since Labour won last year's general election. Children were seen wrapped in blankets as they arrived into the Port of Ramsgate, Kent, by a lifeboat vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday. The Conservative Party has claimed the figure has surpassed 50,000 following Monday's arrivals, but the official numbers are yet to be confirmed. At Epping's Black Lion pub, Mrs Badenoch told members of the community: 'We've got to turn things around very quickly. We cannot use rules from 1995, or 2005, or even 2015 for 2025. 'Our world is changing very quickly, and we need to adapt to it.' She added: 'Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?' Asked what she meant by the suggestion, Mrs Badenoch told the PA news agency: 'We need to make sure that communities like Epping are safe. What a lot of the parents – the mothers and even some of the children – have said to me is that they don't feel safe. 'It is unfair to impose this burden on communities.' The MP for North West Essex said that 'lots of people here have been talking about being harassed by a lot of people in the hotels' and continued: 'Not everyone here is a genuine asylum seeker. People are arriving in our country illegally and that is why we have a plan to make sure that people who arrive here illegally are deported immediately. 'We need to close down that pathway to citizenship that means that lots of people get here not making any contributions, claiming welfare, claiming benefits. 'And we also need a deterrent.' The Government has previously set out its intention to close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. 'My worry is that things are actually going to get worse as Labour tries to move people out of hotels and into private accommodation – I think that is going to be a much worse situation,' Mrs Badenoch said. She had earlier told members of the community: 'As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don't have all the answers; it's important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved.' Referring to protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think there can be a balance. 'There is a big difference between local people protesting about something that's happening in their midst and 'professional protesters' who turn up at lots of different events. 'They are not equivalent, and I think that there needs to be some recognition that people can be in their neighbourhood talking about something there, and other people who have an academic or a theoretical or political belief joining that to have a counter-protest. 'Also this is your home, this is your community, and that in my view is quite important. People should have some kind of precedence in their own communities versus other people randomly passing through, otherwise we start to change the nature of what protest is.' Demonstrations began on July 13 after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, denies sexual assault and is due to stand trial this month. A group of refugee organisations and charities have urged party leaders to take a 'strong and united stand' after a wave of anti-migrant protests on the weekend. Hundreds of protesters in Nuneaton marched through the Warwickshire town on Saturday after two men, reported to be Afghan asylum seekers, were charged over the rape of a 12-year-old girl. Signatories to an open letter, published on Monday, told politicians they hold a responsibility to 'end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past'. The letter, co-ordinated by campaign coalition Together With Refugees and signed by groups including Oxfam and Amnesty, said: 'Many of the people targeted have already suffered unimaginably, having fled for their lives from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria. 'Now, due to unacceptable delays and a broken system, they are housed in hotels, a collective target of hostility, banned from working, with limited control over their lives or futures.' The coalition added that an 'outpouring of support from communities condemning the hatred is a powerful reminder that these views do not represent the vast majority'. Some protesters, also protesting against asylum hotels and houses of multiple occupation, held signs reading 'What about our girls' human right to safety' at the Nuneaton demonstration. The End Violence Against Women Coalition – another signatory to the open letter – said the 'far-right has long exploited the cause of ending violence against women and girls to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda' and added the 'attacks against migrant and racialised communities are appalling and do nothing to improve women and girls' autonomy, rights and freedoms'.
Glasgow Times
15 minutes ago
- Glasgow Times
Badenoch suggests migrants held in ‘camps' as crossings near 50,000 under Labour
The Conservative Party leader warned that some communities 'don't feel safe', as she visited Epping in Essex, where protesters have gathered in recent weeks opposing the decision to house asylum seekers in local hotels. Latest Home Office figures show that 49,797 people have arrived on British shores by small boat since Labour won last year's general election. Children were seen wrapped in blankets as they arrived into the Port of Ramsgate, Kent, by a lifeboat vessel following a small boat incident in the Channel on Monday. The Conservative Party has claimed the figure has surpassed 50,000 following Monday's arrivals, but the official numbers are yet to be confirmed. At Epping's Black Lion pub, Mrs Badenoch told members of the community: 'We've got to turn things around very quickly. We cannot use rules from 1995, or 2005, or even 2015 for 2025. 'Our world is changing very quickly, and we need to adapt to it.' She added: 'Is it possible for us to set up camps and police that, rather than bringing all of this hassle into communities?' Asked what she meant by the suggestion, Mrs Badenoch told the PA news agency: 'We need to make sure that communities like Epping are safe. What a lot of the parents – the mothers and even some of the children – have said to me is that they don't feel safe. 'It is unfair to impose this burden on communities.' The MP for North West Essex said that 'lots of people here have been talking about being harassed by a lot of people in the hotels' and continued: 'Not everyone here is a genuine asylum seeker. People are arriving in our country illegally and that is why we have a plan to make sure that people who arrive here illegally are deported immediately. 'We need to close down that pathway to citizenship that means that lots of people get here not making any contributions, claiming welfare, claiming benefits. 'And we also need a deterrent.' Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch called for a deterrent (Lucy North/PA) The Government has previously set out its intention to close asylum hotels by the end of the Parliament. 'My worry is that things are actually going to get worse as Labour tries to move people out of hotels and into private accommodation – I think that is going to be a much worse situation,' Mrs Badenoch said. She had earlier told members of the community: 'As a party, we need to also hear from the community about what you think the solutions are. We don't have all the answers; it's important that we make sure that the community is part of the problem solved.' Police outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Essex where there has been a number of demonstrations (Yui Mok/PA) Referring to protests outside the Bell Hotel in Epping, Mrs Badenoch said: 'I think there can be a balance. 'There is a big difference between local people protesting about something that's happening in their midst and 'professional protesters' who turn up at lots of different events. 'They are not equivalent, and I think that there needs to be some recognition that people can be in their neighbourhood talking about something there, and other people who have an academic or a theoretical or political belief joining that to have a counter-protest. 'Also this is your home, this is your community, and that in my view is quite important. People should have some kind of precedence in their own communities versus other people randomly passing through, otherwise we start to change the nature of what protest is.' Protesters outside the former Bell Hotel in Epping (Jordan Pettitt/PA) Demonstrations began on July 13 after an asylum seeker was charged with allegedly attempting to kiss a 14-year-old girl. Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu, 38, denies sexual assault and is due to stand trial this month. A group of refugee organisations and charities have urged party leaders to take a 'strong and united stand' after a wave of anti-migrant protests on the weekend. Hundreds of protesters in Nuneaton marched through the Warwickshire town on Saturday after two men, reported to be Afghan asylum seekers, were charged over the rape of a 12-year-old girl. Signatories to an open letter, published on Monday, told politicians they hold a responsibility to 'end the divisive politics, racist rhetoric and demonising language of the past'. The letter, co-ordinated by campaign coalition Together With Refugees and signed by groups including Oxfam and Amnesty, said: 'Many of the people targeted have already suffered unimaginably, having fled for their lives from countries such as Afghanistan, Eritrea, Iran, Sudan and Syria. 'Now, due to unacceptable delays and a broken system, they are housed in hotels, a collective target of hostility, banned from working, with limited control over their lives or futures.' The coalition added that an 'outpouring of support from communities condemning the hatred is a powerful reminder that these views do not represent the vast majority'. Some protesters, also protesting against asylum hotels and houses of multiple occupation, held signs reading 'What about our girls' human right to safety' at the Nuneaton demonstration. The End Violence Against Women Coalition – another signatory to the open letter – said the 'far-right has long exploited the cause of ending violence against women and girls to promote a racist, white supremacist agenda' and added the 'attacks against migrant and racialised communities are appalling and do nothing to improve women and girls' autonomy, rights and freedoms'.
The Guardian
15 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Palestine Action co-founder accuses ministers of making defamatory claims
The co-founder of Palestine Action has accused ministers of making false and defamatory allegations about the banned group and contradicting their own intelligence assessments in an attempt to justify the arrest of more than 500 people. The government has come under pressure to justify the detention of 532 people arrested over the weekend under the Terrorism Act – half of whom were 60 or older – on suspicion of showing support for Palestine Action. The number of people arrested for peaceful protests, together with the images of older people being led away and the demands placed on the criminal justice system have led many to call into question the criminalisation of so many people. On Monday, a Downing Street spokesperson responded by saying that Palestine Action, which last month became the first direct action protest group to be banned, was 'a violent organisation that has committed violence, significant injury, extensive criminal damage'. The home secretary, Yvette Cooper, told the BBC that Palestine Action 'is not a non-violent organisation' and claimed that court restrictions meant people 'don't know the full nature of this organisation'. But Huda Ammori, co-founder of Palestine Action, said: 'Yvette Cooper and No 10's claim that Palestine Action is a violent organisation is false and defamatory and even disproven by the government's own intelligence assessment of Palestine Action's activities … 'It was revealed in court during my ongoing legal challenge to the ban that the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre's (JTAC'S) assessment acknowledges that 'Palestine Action does not advocate for violence against persons' and that the 'majority' of its activities 'would not be classified as terrorism'. 'Spraying red paint on war planes is not terrorism. Disrupting Israel's largest weapons manufacturer, Elbit Systems, by trespassing on their sites in Britain is not terrorism. It is the Israeli Defense Forces and all those who arm and enable their war crimes who are the terrorists.' JTAC, a government body based within MI5, produced a secret report on 7 March which was disclosed in the high court. While recommending banning Palestine Action, JTAC said the group 'primarily uses direct action tactics', which typically resulted in minor damage to property. 'Common tactics include graffiti, petty vandalism, occupation and lock-ons,' it added. Defend Our Juries, which has organised multiple demonstrations, including Saturday's, in support of Palestine Action, also highlighted Whitehall officials' description – again in documents revealed in court – of a ban as 'relatively novel' as 'there was no known precedent of an organisation being proscribed on the basis that it was concerned in terrorism mainly due to its use or threat of action involving serious damage to property'. A Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: 'It is despicable that under political pressure, Yvette Cooper is now actively misleading the British public about the nature of Palestine Action, knowing that if people come to their defence to counter her disinformation, she can have them jailed for 14 years [because they could be deemed to supporting a proscribed group].' The group said many hundreds of people had already committed to the next protest, which is likely to take place in early September and will be on an even larger scale. Uncertainty remains over the status of charges and prosecutions. Tom Franklin, chief executive of the Magistrates' Association, said: 'Based on the information that we currently have, and the statement put out by the Metropolitan Police yesterday, it could take days and possibly weeks for decisions to be made on whether or not to charge any of those arrested over the weekend. Many of these cases may also be heard in the crown courts, rather than magistrates courts.' Magistrates courts hear less serious cases although some charges under section 13 of the Terrorism Act are 'either way', meaning the defendant can choose whether to be tried before magistrates or a jury in the crown court. The Defend Our Juries spokesperson said: 'Personally I would go to the crown court because I know where the British public is, both on the genocide in Gaza and secondly on the British government's support for it, and thirdly on people not being allowed to express their opinions.' However, they added that they expected most charges to be laid under section 13, which are all heard in the magistrates courts, as the criminal justice system would not be able to cope with so many jury trials.
