Monmouth MP Catherine Fookes defends Labour's autumn budget

Monmouth MP Catherine Fookes has defended Labour’s autumn budget, and how it impacts Welsh farmers.

Speaking on 16 July 2025, Fookes pointed out that the Welsh Government’s budget contains over £300 million to support farmers and accused Plaid Cymru and the Tories were putting farmers’ livelihoods at risk by voting against the funding.

The debate focused on the potential impact of the autumn budget 2024 on Welsh family farms. The Minister for Wales, Nia Griffith, confirmed that the Government had protected the farm budget and allocated £337 million to the Welsh Government. Griffith also highlighted a new UK-EU agrifood deal, which will remove routine border checks on British goods such as dairy, fish, eggs, and red meat, reducing costs and paperwork for farmers.

Concerns were also raised about the Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS), a government plan aimed at promoting environmentally friendly farming. While the scheme has a transition period and a basic payment scheme for those not yet in the program, some farmers have expressed worries about its complexity and potential impact on production. Griffith noted that the scheme provides “workable payment rates and much needed stability for the sector.”

The National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has warned that planned changes to the family farm inheritance tax could disproportionately affect working farms, according to a new report by the Centre for the Analysis of Taxation (CenTax).

The report, titled “The impact of changes to inheritance tax on farm estates”, uses HMRC data from 2018-2022 to examine the government’s proposed reforms to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR). It found that around 480 farm estates a year would pay additional tax, with 50% of owner-farmers, tenant farmers, and mixed tenure farmers impacted. Non-farming landowners would be less affected, with only 20% facing higher tax.

NFU President Tom Bradshaw said the proposals “do little to counter those who seek to shelter wealth from inheritance tax by investing in farmland” and called for fairer targeting to protect working farms. He welcomed CenTax’s analysis as a chance for “fresh conversations” with the government ahead of the Finance Bill.

The report also highlighted affordability issues. Most impacted farm estates could pay through non-farm assets, but 70 estates per year could not, and would need to use future profits over 10 years. Impacted estates were generally held by older owners, with over 80% aged 75 and above.

CenTax proposed several alternatives to better support working farms, including:

• Minimum share rule: APR and BPR qualifying assets must make up at least 60% of net worth to qualify for higher relief, aiming to separate working farmers from investors.
  
• Upper limit on relief: 100% relief on the first £2m of assets, then 50% up to £10m, with no relief above that.
  
• Combination of both: Higher allowances for working farms while limiting relief for larger estates.

According to CenTax, these alternatives could raise more tax revenue than the government’s current proposal while better protecting working farmers.

The NFU is urging the government to use this analysis to ensure fairness and affordability in the upcoming reforms.