Laura Anne Jones, the South Wales East MS has said farmers are “angry” with policies that are putting family farms at risk.
She visited Monmouthshire Livestock Market in Raglan ahead of a Senedd debate on farming on Wednesday, and spoke to farmers about changes to inheritance tax, which NFU Cymru’s President Aled Jones says will place “unsustainable tax liabilities on the backbone of our food system.”
Ms Jones also chatted with farmers about rural crime, with many people telling her there was not enough support for people falling victim for such crimes.
Her visit came amidst claims from the Welsh Labour MP Henry Tufnell that the relationship between the UK Government and the farming sector has “completely broken down”.
Laura Anne Jones MS, Senedd Member for South Wales East, said: “It’s always good to come to the Monmouthshire Livestock Market if you want to hear a good dose of common sense.
“It’s very clear that farmers are angry that Labour have lied to them by changing inheritance tax. This change will tax the industry into the ground, risking so many family farms across our communities, stripping away the chance to pass on farms to future generations, who would continue to farm the land.
“It’s vital that our farmers are supported, that this policy is scrapped and that’s why, as a farmer’s daughter, I will continue to stand with them in this existential fight for our rural communities until it is finally scrapped.”
Chancellor Rachel Reeves said in the Autumn budget that from April 2026, inheritance tax relief for business and for agricultural assets would be capped at £1mn, with a new reduced rate of 20% being charged above that (rather than the standard inheritance tax rate of 40%). The tax would be payable in instalments over 10 years interest free.