Aberdeenshire MSP Gillian Martin calls for tenant farmers support
A MSP has met with farmers protesting changes by the UK government at the Scottish Parliament with fears over the future for the industry.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the UK government planned to impose 20 per cent inheritance tax on farms worth more than £1 million.
Farmers have warned the decision could mean many family farms would have to sell off land to pay the new inheritance tax measures.
Ms Martin has warned the move will also impact tenant farmers who are not landowners or well off but will be unable to pass on their tenancy to family as a result of the measure.
In October, the UK government Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced that funding for farm subsidies would no longer be ringfenced for the devolved nations.
This means it will instead be integrated into each nation’s block grant through the Barnett Formula, allowing governments to spend it on other areas.
The industry has expressed concern it will lose out if competing for funding from different sectors.
Aberdeenshire East MSP Gillian Martin said: “I am concerned the UK Government’s decision on Inheritance Tax will have real ramifications for tenant farmers who will face a very real blow to let estates who are likely to be heavily impacted as they are more likely to breach the £1 million limit set out by the UK Government.
“It is a very real possibility that many tenant farmers will not be able to pass on their tenancy to their family as a result of this decision. They do not own the land or have the capital and we’ll lose food producers as a result.
“We need to ensure we create a secure rural economy and protect tenant farmers and our food producers from the very real damage this decision will cause to them and their families and the supply chains that support them. This is a tax on rural Scotland.”
