Latest news with #JohnCharlesworth
Epoch Times
5 days ago
- Business
- Epoch Times
Inheritance Tax Changes Could Increase Suicide Risk Among Farmers
Pressures on the farming community will be exacerbated by the introduction of inheritance tax, potentially increasing the risk of suicides among farmers, Parliament has heard. 'We know that a number already have taken that dreadful step—and, as the deadline approaches, the risk will only rise,' shadow minister for environment, food, and rural affairs Lord Massey Roborough Roborough, a dairy and livestock farmer, made the remarks during a debate on the Employment Rights Bill, urging the government to track suicide rates among farmers, to assess the impact of planned inheritance tax reforms. 'It would appear to be callous in the extreme that the government refuse to take responsibility for this tragic human cost of their Budget decisions,' the shadow minister said. From April 2026, agricultural estates and assets worth over £1 million will be subject to a 20 percent inheritance tax rate. This is half the usual 40 percent rate, but farms were previously exempt from inheritance tax. Farmer Takes His Own Life The plea comes after Sheffield Coroner's Court heard last week that 78-year-old farmer John Charlesworth had committed suicide on Oct. 29, 2024, the day before the Autumn Budget was announced. John Charlesworth's son, 47-year-old Jonathan Charlesworth, told the coroner that his father had been 'growing more and more anxious about inheritance tax and the implications for the farm' in the weeks before the Budget. Related Stories 5/16/2025 3/26/2025 He said he believed his father 'wasn't going to let the government beat him' and wanted to 'save the farm for future generations.' Lord Andrew Sharpe of Epsom, the shadow minister for business and trade, alluded to the case on Tuesday. Sharpe said: 'I must also highlight a concern that has been brought to light by recent tragic events and official responses, and that is the case of a farmer who took his own life just before the government's Budget, which is a heartbreaking example of the immense pressures our rural communities face. 'These pressures are exacerbated by the looming inheritance tax changes that threaten the very future of family farms.' The shadow minister also criticised the 'significant delay' in the publishing of accurate data on suicides, saying in the House of Lords, 'Without timely, detailed data, broken down by occupation, policymakers cannot fully understand the human cost of these policies.' Children ride toy tractors in Parliament Square as demonstrators attend a farmers' rally in London on Nov. 19, minister Lord Sonny Leong said that ministers are in regular contact with the farming community, adding that the government is committed to the UK's farming industry, highlighting its pledge to invest £5 billion into the sector over the next two years. Leong said: 'It is with immense sadness that we hear about suicides in the farming community, and I agree with noble lords that we need to have accurate and timely data. I promise noble lords that I will speak to my ministerial colleagues at Defra [the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs] and the ONS [Office for National Statistics] as far as their request is concerned.' The government has Rural Mental Health These peers are not the first to raise concerns that changes to tax rules could drive some farmers to suicide. Giving evidence to the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Efra) Committee in December, the National Farmers' Union President Tom Bradshaw Bradshaw argued that it was not the money, per se, putting pressure on these farmers, but the impact the change will have on their legacy. 'This is a lifetime of work; it is the heritage and custodianship of our farms,' he had said. Farmers protest over the changes to inheritance tax rules in the budget which introduced new taxes on farms worth more than £1 million in Whitehall, London, on March 4, 2025. Jordan Pettitt/PA Wire The wider issue of the mental health of farmers has been a matter of concern for years, owing to the higher than average rates of depression and suicide among the farming community. A 2023 Some of the If you're struggling or need someone to talk to, help is available. You can call Samaritans for free, any time, on 116 123 or visit PA Media contributed to this report.
Daily Mail
6 days ago
- Business
- Daily Mail
Labour's war on farmers isn't just causing suicide and despair... it's threatening Britain's national security at a time of grave peril: JAMIE BLACKETT
The day before Chancellor Rachel Reeves delivered her Budget last October, 78-year-old South Yorkshire farmer John Charlesworth killed himself. He knew that the Government was going to mount a punitive tax raid on family-owned farms and wanted to make sure that his son and daughter would have the means to keep the farm and look after his dementia-stricken wife.
Times
6 days ago
- Business
- Times
Farmer's nightmare as father ‘took own life over IHT changes'
It was early in the morning when Jonathan Charlesworth got a call from his uncle, who could not get hold of Charlesworth's father. The brothers had never missed their 7am virtual Scrabble match, but on October 29 last year, the retired farmer failed to log on. Charlesworth, 47, was not alarmed. He saw his children playing in the barn and almost called out to ask them to 'find Grandpa'. 'For some reason I didn't — and I'm so glad,' Charlesworth recalled. 'Instead, I walked around back and saw him hanging.' The day before Rachel Reeves was set to announce changes to inheritance tax for farmers in her autumn statement, John Charlesworth, who went by his middle name of Philip, took his own life. He died aged 78 where he had lived since age 11, on Bank House Farm in Silkstone, near Barnsley. He had inherited the land from his own father, also called John. The timing, his son had always maintained, 'was no coincidence' — a conclusion also drawn by a coroner last week who found that Charlesworth had killed himself while 'worried about implications of new regulations around inheritance tax '. The media had been briefed in the run-up to the budget that the chancellor was poised to announce a raid on landowners by restricting tax relief on agricultural and business property. However, the full details were only announced on October 30. 'There was so much talk about it, but no information anywhere,' Charlesworth explained. 'We didn't know when it would come in. We didn't know how much it would be. We didn't know what the threshold would be. I think every farmer was worried about it but my dad got really worried. It was all we talked about. 'He must have just wound himself up so much about it that the day before the budget, he took his own life. He had got in his head that if this is implemented, and it's in from tomorrow, we're stuffed. So he decided he was going to beat it.' Philip, who loved bell-ringing on a Sunday and teaching his grandchildren the tricks of the farming trade, had no known mental health problems, although he had struggled as the full-time carer for his wife, a former English teacher and lecturer, who was suffering from severe dementia and cancer. The father of two had left the family a short suicide note, underneath which he included some calculations related to the farm's finances. PA Sitting in the farmhouse kitchen, only metres from where he had found his father, Charlesworth said he spent weeks waiting to wake up from what felt like a nightmare. 'I blamed myself that I didn't see it coming, that I didn't talk him out of it,' he said. 'But he was very much like that, my dad. Once he had made a decision, he'd stick to it.' In the end, changes to inheritance tax relief were less drastic than the family had feared: farms worth less than £1 million were exempt and the tax rate above that was capped at 20 per cent, rather than the standard 40 per cent. Yet Charlesworth, who reared cattle and sheep on his 75-acre farm, still estimated that under the new rules, his family would be hit with a bill of up to £200,000. That was not money that Charlesworth, who estimated that he paid himself an hourly wage of about £5, could easily find. The farm had only stayed afloat since they opened a campsite during the pandemic. 'The average farm size will be three to four times ours and they will be hit really hard,' he said. 'Farmers feel persecuted,' Charlesworth added. 'There is an argument for inheritance tax on land because people are using it as a tax dodge but those people aren't farmers. For us, it's our factory floor. Those others will just put that money somewhere else, where it's more tax-efficient.' Charlesworth fears more suicides next March if the tax changes are not reversed MARK WAUGH/MANCHESTER PRESS PHOTOGRAPHY Any property passed on more than seven years before death falls outside the scope of inheritance tax. Charlesworth is calling on the government to 'at the very least' push back the implementation date of the new rules for landowners, to give farming families enough time to transfer their assets. Otherwise, he fears, others could come to the same terrible conclusion as his father. Darren Millar, leader of the Welsh Conservatives, described the case of one farmer who died after declining cancer treatment as he was 'so concerned about the implications of the inheritance tax changes' that he wanted to ensure he passed on his land before they came into effect next April. 'If you've got farmers in their eighties [or] nineties, or farmers with health problems who aren't sure if they are going to live another five years, they might think they can't risk it,' Charlesworth said. 'If Labour don't push the date back, March next year will be like National Suicide Month.'
Telegraph
29-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Farmer who took own life ‘wasn't going to let Starmer beat him' over inheritance tax raid
A farmer who took his own life in fear of the Government's inheritance tax raid wasn't going to let Sir Keir Starmer 'beat him', his son has said. John Charlesworth, 78, killed himself the day before Rachel Reeves's maiden budget after worrying about what it would mean for the family farm for weeks. He was found dead by his son Jonathan Charlesworth, 47, in a barn of their farm in Silkstone, Barnsley, on Oct 29 last year. The Telegraph revealed in November that he had killed himself in anticipation of a higher inheritance tax bill. An inquest at Sheffield Coroner's Court heard that Mr Charlesworth had been struggling to care for his wife, who had severe dementia and had recently been diagnosed with cancer. The hearing was told that in the months before the Budget he had been 'growing more and more anxious about inheritance tax and the implications for the farm'. Jonathan Charlesworth told the hearing: 'I think he was under stress looking after my mum but if it hadn't been for worries about inheritance tax he would still be here today. He wouldn't have put us all through that for any other reason. 'He thought he was doing it for the good. I don't agree with that, but he thought he was doing it for the greater good. 'There was a lack of information, it wasn't actually as bad as it could have been but we didn't know that. 'I think he woke up that morning and thought, 'I'm not risking it, I'm not risking losing everything I've worked for'.' He added: 'In the couple of months before it happened the only thing he talked about was inheritance tax. 'I think he just wasn't going to let the Government beat him, that was his final hurrah.' The inquest heard that Mr Charlesworth had retired from the farm, which had been bought by his own father, and that his son was responsible for the day-to-day running while he cared for his wife, who died in February this year. A coroner was told he had no reported mental health issues, but had been seen by a mental health team about support for his wife several days before he died. His daughter Verity Charlesworth, 45, said farming was a part of Mr Charlesworth's 'life and identity', and that he was also a grandfather of six and a keen bell-ringer. Recording a conclusion of suicide, coroner Tanyka Rawden said Mr Charlesworth was under stress with caring responsibilities for his wife. 'A typical Yorkshireman' She said: 'He was worried about implications of new regulations around inheritance tax that would see the family lose 50 per cent of the farm, taking his life the day before the changes were due to be announced.' After the inquest, Jonathan Charlesworth said his father was 'a typical Yorkshireman, typical farmer – tight with money but generous with time', adding: 'He'd do anything for anybody.' In a message to Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves after his father's death, he said: 'I would tell them they've killed my dad. He didn't know the details but all the scaremongering around it beforehand frightened him to death. 'He was the most kind-hearted person you'd ever meet, my dad. He wouldn't take any nonsense. He would do anything for anybody, I don't think anyone had a bad word to say about my dad. 'The battles we had guided me for the future. You couldn't ask for better really.'
Daily Mail
29-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
Farmer, 78, killed himself because he feared Rachel Reeves' inheritance tax raid, coroner concludes, as his distraught children urge Labour to ditch hated policy before more deaths
A farmer killed himself the day before Rachel Reeves ' budget because he was 'worried' about Labour's inheritance tax raid, a coroner has found. John Philip Charlesworth, 78, 'wasn't going to let the government beat him' and wanted to pass on the farm 'on his terms', an inquest heard. Following the verdict of suicide, his family urged the government to rethink the hated policy, under which farms above £1m will be made subject to the tax from next year. Mr Charlesworth, a farmer all his life and keen church bellringer, was found dead at his farm in Silkstone, Barnsley, South Yorkshire, on October 29, the day before Ms Reeves' budget. Although struggling with the care of his dementia-stricken wife Carolyn, 73, who died four months later in a care home, son Jonathan and daughter Verity said they believe he would 'still be here' were it not for the 'financial worries over inheritance tax'. Concluding the inquest in Sheffield, Coroner Tanyika Rawden said: 'He had caring responsibilities and was worried about the implementation of the new form of inheritance tax which could see the family lose 50 per cent of their farm, ultimately causing him to take his life the day before the changes were due to be announced.' Speaking outside Sheffield Coroner's Court, Verity Charlesworth, 45, urged the government to rethink the inheritance tax raid. She said: 'It's not too late to change before someone else loses their life like my dad.' Jonathan Charlesworth, 47, who took over the running of the farm prior to his father's death so he could care for his wife, gave a message to the Chancellor, saying: 'If she'd have been here, I would have hoped she would have listened to the evidence. I'd tell her to go out and visit other farms, see them working for £3.50, £5 an hour. 'Government policy caused my dad's death and will no doubt cause more before the tax change comes in in 2026. 'I wish my dad hadn't done it, no land is worth that sacrifice, but it will happen again. 'The policy really wants abolishing or adjusting somehow. At the very least, they need to extend the implementation date. Eighteen months is not long-enough.' He added: 'It was good to hear the coroner agreed with what we already knew, that it was the inheritance tax that really ended my father's life. If it wasn't for that, he would still be here.' Mr Charlesworth jr had earlier told the inquest his father knew his wife's condition had worsened to the point she did not have long left. He said: 'He was certainly having thoughts he would be able to go back to doing stuff on the farm and go back to bell ringing'. But he added that 'for the six weeks before (his death) the only thing he would ever talk about was inheritance tax and how he was going to deal with it. 'He became very down about the financial burden which could be imposed.' But Mr Charlesworth added: 'He wasn't going to let the government beat him, he wanted (to leave the farm) on his terms and no one was going to take that away from him.' 'He thought he was doing it for the greater good of us.' The inquest heard Mr Charlesworth sr had last spoken to his son at 7pm the previous evening. Both lived in neighbouring houses on the farm. Mr Charlesworth jr found his father in a barn early the next morning after receiving a worried phone call from his uncle and he was pronounced dead at the scene. A post mortem examination found the cause of death was hanging. Mr Charlesworth sr's GP, Dr Matthew Teesdale, said he had 'minimal contact' with the surgery apart from treatment for hypertension and atrial fibrillation, a heart condition. 'There was no documented history of mental health issues or suicidal thoughts prior to his death, Dr Teesdale added. Mr Charlesworth had contact in the days before his death with a mental health team concerning support to help him care for his wife. They recorded he needed support to 'help him cope with his wife' and was feeling 'anxious' but had 'no suicidal thoughts'. A further visit was planned. But Ms Charlesworth said: 'It's not something he would say, that he was anxious'. Her brother added: 'It had got to the stage where he admitted he needed some help (but) he was talking about having a bit of freedom if my mum went'. Mr Charlesworth jr added: 'I believe my dad took his own life the day before the budget because he believed this would beat the government's inheritance tax proposals and save the farm for future generations. 'It's very sad he believed he would have to take his own life to save his farm.' After Mr Charlesworth sr's death, a note entitled 'till death do us part' was found at his home setting funeral plans including a poem, his ashes to be scattered in woodland, and for 'no sad songs' or church services. He had also left a separate note with instructions about the future of the farm and referring to inheritance tax. Paying tribute to her father, Ms Charlesworth told how farming was 'very much a defining part of his identity'. Mr Charlesworth sr, from a farming family and who went to agricultural college, had been with Carolyn since they met at teaching college 52 years earlier. The couple, accompanied by their daughter, were regular bellringers at Silkstone Church, with Mr Charlesworth being tower captain. 'He was a grandfather of six and loved to involve (his grandchildren) with jobs on the farm. He was loved by many and will be sadly missed.' Mr Charlesworth jr said he had 'taught me everything I know about farming' and would do 'anything for anyone'. Mr Charlesworth previously accused the Prime Minister of having 'blood on his hands' over the government's inheritance tax raid on farmers. His father ran a 70-acre farm on the outskirts of Barnsley, South Yorkshire, which had been in his family since the 1950s. But pre-budget news predicting the tax raid – ending the practice of allowing farmers to pass on estates without inheritance tax - had 'eaten away' at him and was the 'final straw', his son said. Speaking last October, Mr Charlesworth jr, told the Daily Mail: 'I'm not sure you could publish what I'd say to (Keir Starmer). He's got blood on his hands. 'He's totally destroying an industry we rely on.' Mr Charlesworth jr, who now looks after the 70-acre farm of sheep and cattle at Silkstone, in the Pennine foothills, himself, added: 'This government has absolutely zero understanding of agriculture let alone how it works. 'They think we're just jumped-up millionaires riding around in Land Rovers but that's not true. 'This government have killed ambition in this country – what's the point of doing well, building up a business, if it's all going to be taken away?' Mr Charlesworth's son revealed he had spent his final hours writing down his thoughts on how to protect the future of his business from the government's inheritance tax raid before taking his own life. He found a handwritten note where the Yorkshire farmer had jotted down his ideas for how best to leave the farm to his children. The musings, left on a clipboard immediately beneath a suicide note, included questions for the family's solicitor covering costs, capital gains tax, protected agricultural exemptions and what gifted assets could be sheltered from inheritance tax under the seven-year rule. On the budget, Mr Charlesworth had written: 'Is it possible to execute before law changes', and wondered 'how long' it would take for the policy to charge inheritance tax on farms worth over £1million to be implemented. Son Jonathan - who found his father hanged in a barn - said: 'The suicide note was on top of the clipboard and this was underneath it. 'That's what he was working on before he went and did it. It's fairly obvious what was on his mind. 'He was very methodical, my dad. The police have taken the suicide note and I tried to give the note about inheritance to them as well. It's got his workings out, how to save the farm from potential inheritance tax.' Mr Charlesworth Jr said his father wrote in the suicide note that he had 'left some beers in the fridge' for his son, adding: 'I appreciate all the help and support you've given me.' Further lines were written to his daughter, who is not involved in the farm, which has been in the family since 1957. Although Mr Charlesworth sr was sole carer for his dementia-stricken wife Carolyn, 73, who had to be placed in a home, his son said he was 'talking more about inheritance tax lately than about caring for his wife'. Mr Charlesworth Jr revealed he found his father after receiving a call from a family friend who had been unable to get hold of the pensioner on the phone. He said his 'first thoughts' were shielding his youngest children - a son aged seven and daughter, nine, who live with him - from the tragedy, so called their mother to take them to her house before emergency services arrived. Father-of-four Mr Charlesworth Jr, who keeps 40 cattle and 120 sheep, said he still hopes to be able to leave the 70-acre farm to his children one day, with his youngest son particularly interested. 'Even his teachers say all he ever talks about is farming and tractors. He's like I was at that age,' he said. Although the farm, which also includes a small camp site and shepherds' huts, is worth approximately £2million on paper, Mr Charlesworth Jr's income last year was under £15,000, equivalent to an hourly rate less than half the minimum wage. He added: 'I put in up to 60 hours a week, so that works out at less than £5 an hour and I only had four to five nights away with my partner. 'I haven't had a week's holiday for 13 years – yet the government is asking farmers to fund the pay rises of train drivers, nurses and doctors and everyone else.' 'The most I've ever made was £30,000 a year, when my dad was running the farm and I had another job.' Mr Charlesworth Jr told how he has been left 'numb' and 'exhausted' by the tragedy – which he first revealed in an anonymous post on the British Farming Forum website. In the post, he wrote: 'This morning I found my dad in the barn having taken his own life. 'So afraid of the IHT implications on farms he took his own life rather than see the government take half the farm in IHT. 'As a family, we are devastated and in shock! This is the human cost of government policy or potential government policy. 'They claim to be for the working man, no man worked harder than dad. He increased the acreage from my grandad's day and was proud of what he achieved.' In the post, Mr Charlesworth jr also told he believed his father aimed to 'beat the budget by ending his life' and that it is what happens when 'you have built something your entire life and see it robbed from beneath your kids' feet'. He said the family did not make enough money to pay a large inheritance tax bill, nor would they be able to borrow it. Mr Charlesworth jr has called on farmers to protest instead by withholding their produce. Calling on the government to rethink scrapping inheritance tax relief for farms worth over £1million – which campaigners say will lead to the break-up of family farms to pay death duties - he added: 'Rachel Reeves's husband Nicholas Joicey is Second Permanent Secretary at the Department of Food, Environment and Rural Affairs. 'She should have better knowledge of what will happen as a result of this policy.' The Government expects the new tax rules to raise an extra half a billion pounds by 2028/9. The Treasury says just 27 per cent of farms will be affected, but the NFU says the true figure, based on analysis of DEFRA figures, is 66 per cent. The new rules mean farmers can pass on £1 million of agricultural assets tax-free, in addition to exemptions for all inheritances - a £325,000 tax-free allowance, plus a further £175,000 for a main residence. The Treasury argues this means most farmers can use all three and pass on £1.5 million of assets without tax - and if the farm is owned by a married couple, both are eligible for the exemptions. This would enable them to jointly pass on £3 million of assets. However, critics have repeatedly warned that farming families who are asset-rich on paper will now not have enough money to cover the inheritance tax. For confidential support contact The Samaritans on 116123.
