So much for Labour backing agriculture and wanting the UK to be self sufficient in food.
The introduction of Inheritance Tax on family farms is in direct opposition to what they claimed.
Red is alive and well and living in Downing Street.
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They are not introducing inheritance tax on farms, it has always been there. However they are reducing the current complete tax relief to Ā£1 million. The smallest family farms will still be exempt.
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RR effectively admitted on R4 this morning that she was taxing workers. I really hope their spending plans do good, rather than just putting a gold-plated plaster on the gaping wound.
Nobody likes paying tax but the Tories have demonised it to the a ridiculous extent to my mind. Like the EU, like immigration, like so many groups of people and things.
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While I have sympathy for people who are individually affected by tax rises, the Government are in an impossible situation - they inherited a complete mess left by the Previous Lot, who spent 14 years mismanaging the UK for the benefit of the top 1%. The UK has one of the highest levels of income inequality in the world, behind the USA, Israel, China, India, and Italy.
The UK farming industry gets Ā£2.4 billion a year in direct support from the Government via the Farm Support Budget, a similar amount to what it used to get under the EU Common Agricultural Policy.
There are a host of other schemes to help farmers, including the Sustainable Farming Incentive, Countryside Stewardship, the Farming Investment Fund, the Farming Equipment and Technology Fund, Water Management Grants, and probably quite a few more.
I doubt that any other industry gets more help from the UK government than farming, so although they are a very vociferous lobby group I don;t think they are too hard done by.
Also, the UK will never be self-sufficient in food production, there simply isnāt enough agricultural land to support the UKās population. It couldnāt even be done during WW2 with rationing and people growing veg in their gardens.
As for the Budget overall, I think Reeves steered a very narrow path between a whole set of unattractive options, and came up with a set of measures that are broadly fair and do the least harm to those on low incomes. Of course there will be losers (primarily large and medium businesses), but as she said herself, hopefully she wonāt have to do this again.
As most here will agree I think, a lot of the harm being suffered is down to Brexit, and the sooner Labour come off the fence and address that particular elephant in the room, the better (note 1) . But I expect them to go slow on that one as UK public opinion is not quite ready yet.
PS: If the worst that the Tory press can do to criticise the Budget is that āLabour broke election manifesto promisesā, it shows it wasnāt a bad effort. 
Note 1 - excuse my mixed metaphors. 
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If itās broken you have to fix it and to fix it means spending money which in turn means raising taxes. simple, no?
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I think thatās the nub of the problem. A lot of people donāt want to pay the taxes required to get the quality services they want. Itās all been made worse by Tory austerity which has created an age of record high taxation coupled with record low quality of services. Itās a vicious circle of low productivity creating higher taxes along with poorer services. That cycle has to be broken, and it canāt be done without investment in public infrastructure and services which unfortunately means spending more money, which means even higher taxation.
Itās ironic that generally the countries with the happiest citizens also have the highest rates of taxation.
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Labour spent months before the election saying fixing the mess the Tories have left the country in could only be done by growing the economy yet some of yesterdayās budget measures are likely to have the opposite effect. The hikes in NI and an above inflation rise for the Minimum Wage (for example) will impact the ability of businesses of all sizes to retain or recruit workers.
This budget was all about finding money to pump into the NHS and paying for outstanding government compensation schemes (infected blood and post office Horizon claims) rather than anything else.
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True, but they had to deal with the āfiscal black holeā otherwise there will be no money for investment to generate growth - too much Government cash already goes on servicing debt not providing services.
It will take years to sort it out - there are no quick fixes.
How about taxing the wealthy rather than small business owners?
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From Reuters:
British finance minister Rachel Reeves announced large tax increases on the rich on Wednesday, betting she could fund higher spending on public services without damaging the economy and triggering a mass exodus of millionaires.
For the wealthiest in Britain, the proposals will mean higher taxes on sales of their investments, businesses, estates, foreign income, use of private jets and private education for their children.
The measures include raising the rate of capital gains tax on most assets to 24% from 20% for higher earners, making it harder to pass on assets without paying inheritance tax, and ending tax discounts used by wealthy individuals who bring in foreign income.
Non-dom status is also being abolished.
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Thereās no irony in that. Itās the quality of life that the higher taxation delivers in these countries that makes their citizens happier.
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No but they are radically changing it.
Just how much do you think prime agricultural land is worth?
More than the exception if you have a viable farm.
Tenancies are at risk too. Selling off land to pay inheritance tax will result in viable farms becoming unprofitable.
Labour promised they would look at self suffiency in food for the UK and now we can see just what a hollow promise that was.
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If you think that environmental schemes make more money than a good wheat harvest, think again.
This is a direct attack on agricultural and will mean more food imports.
Indeed. Certain countries, the US and UK amongst them, insist that lower taxation makes people richer and therefore should make them happier. Unfortunately it just doesnāt work like that. Itās a myth just like ātrickle down economicsā which was promulgated by the rich for the rich.
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The correct word for trickle down economics is tax. Thereās no gravity feed from rich to poor. Though even tax takes work for governments to make stick.
PS Ā£1m is absolutely bvgger all in the context of illiqiid investment in farming these days. Plus it will be a frozen threshold.
Itās a clever budget and will keep workers down.
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When the person delivering the budget admits that workers pay will be hit you know thereās a problem.
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There are ways around IHT anyway.
The biggest wheeze, of course, is being King but lesser mortals can also do a lot to reduce their liability.
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I have never lived in a rural community in the UK so there is a lot I do not understand. But the first thing I wonder is, if a family has a farm worth millions, why is it not registered as a business? This would then not be an issue. And it seems to me that if it is a business it should be registered as such.
If the reason is, because it has been like this since feudal times, then is it not time to change.
It seems to me that some people expect things to improve without it being paid for. 14 years of trashing the country and the economy canāt suddenly be made to disappear.
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