Farming family delivers symbolic toys to chancellor

A farming family from Bedfordshire has handed over a basket of pre-loved toys to the Treasury in London, highlighting the threat posed by proposed inheritance tax changes to future farming generations.

Hazel and Tom Church, along with their five-year-old son Bertie and Mrs Church’s father, Martin Towler, delivered the basket to chancellor Rachel Reeves’ office, containing a poignant message about how the “family farm tax” will affect their future.

See also: Inheritance tax in the spotlight at FW Question Time

The Church family runs Scald End Farm, a 210-acre mixed livestock farm at Thurleigh, near Bedford, and are tenants on another 400 acres. If the tax policy proceeds, they could face a £400,000 inheritance tax bill, a sum greater than their entire annual profit for 10 years.

“The family farm tax is a real worry for us,” said Ms Church.

“We know the changes will hugely affect us. That is an awful lot of money, which can’t be reinvested back into the business to make it more resilient for the future.”

She also expressed concern that Ms Reeves may not fully understand the challenges of farming. “Farmers don’t get money when they inherit, they get the farm, the business asset, and often the debt,” she said.

© MAG/Charlie Reeve

Toy display

In addition to the Churches’ donation, a display of thousands of pre-loved toys from farming families across the UK was set up outside the NFU Conference at the QEII Centre in London today (25 February) where Defra secretary Steve Reed addressed NFU delegates.

The toys represent future generations of farmers whose livelihoods could be at risk due to the proposed tax changes.

NFU president Tom Bradshaw praised the Church family’s contribution. “Each toy represents a child who, until this family farm tax was announced, planned a future as one of the nation’s food producers. That future now hangs in the balance.”

Mr Bradshaw added: “We will keep fighting this battle until the government starts to listen.”

The NFU is intensifying pressure on the government to reconsider proposed changes to agricultural and business property relief ahead of the spending review in March.