Thread 10 Starmer: First Female Chancellor delivers the Budget

[DuncinToffee]

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https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/_chat/5178726-thread-9-starmer-return-to-westminster?page=40&reply=139304132

The man whose manifesto proposed exempting all NHS staff earning less than £50k from income tax doesn’t think it stacks up economically? 😂😂😂😂😂

Derxa sorry for the ignorance. Are you still allowed to shoot dogs off lead if they pose a risk to your livestock? I've always despised the attitude towards
Iivestock from dog walkers(spent many a year holidaying in Dorset countryside)

The rural community will never lend their vote to Labour again.

Neither do I. The stereotype of the rich farmer is wrong and doesn’t reflect the majority of farming families, who will be further harmed by this budget.
We need to take farming more seriously in the UK, or we’ll wake up one day and wonder where the fuck it all disappeared to.

Probably worth it's own thread - quite a dramatic judgement with implications for a lot of sales jobs

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2024/10/30/ministers-scramble-to-prevent-car-sale-market-collapsing/

Farms being passed down the family line and still being farmed by the next generation really shouldn’t be something the government is taking aim at. That feels like something there should be an exemption for. Most of them don’t have the profit margins to pay IHT on the value of it.

Thank you. No farmers no food

That's because the OBR haven't pulled any punches in outlining how much Brexit has damaged trade - and will continue to damage trade.

Anyone complaining about the Budget who also voted for Brexit can piss off
That goes for any moron that still believes in any Brexit bonuses/unicorns/moonbeams.

It’s pretty cynical, isn’t it? Because you’re looking at the market value of the farmhouse and land so of course that will be £1 million + in many cases. I don’t want a handful of super rich people to own the farmland of the UK, or a load of boutique-y holiday cottage complexes offering an on-site gym and a hot tub instead of producing food. Or just as bad, high intensity farming methods operated by huge, faceless companies.
Sometimes, Labour shove in a Politics Of Envy policy for the look of it, imo. My previous (Tory) MP went a bit too the other way, only seeming to consider the needs of the large farm constituents, but there’s surely a happier balance to be struck.

Oh I am sure that would be quite convenient for some, Liz, Queen of budgetary irresponsibility.

Just listened to the Martin Lewis podcast, apparently people were falsely classifying non-farmed land as farms to avoid inheritance tax, and this rule change is trying to address that. I guess the devil will be in the detail.
Has anyone actually read the budget document yet to see what the full wording is?

Sorry, I missed this

I can happily live with your not answering 👍. No probs there.

And I can happily smile at your political evacuations.

So targeting the boutique-y hot tub farm cottage estates? Interesting. Hard to prove though, I would have thought - fine line between diversification/using every bit of land you’ve got to generate income and taking the piss. Agree the wording will be very important, as some land isn’t continually ‘farmed’ for sound agricultural reasons. I’d rather land lie fallow than be sold off for housing anyway.

We’re an honest to god wee sheep farm. I’m totally Scarlett Ohara about it

Indeed. We need farmers as the food supply crises are surely only going to get worse with climate change. As others have said i guess the devil's in the detail.

however many farmers are forced into making difficult choices because farming just doesn't pay. Maybe if Tesco et all paid farmers better or didn't reject crops/insist on veg looking perfect they wouldn't have to diversify or sell land to try and keep afloat.

Farmers have always sold land for development, its worth too much not to do so.

We've some extremely rich ones around here who used to have small dairy herds but after selling off 30 or 40 acres for 200 houses, no longer farm.

Shouldn't be forgotten that we give almost £2 billion in subsidy but thats due to fall, now we are out of the CAP & many farmers did vote for this.

Yep, a little over 90 years ago, where I'm sitting right now with my nightcap was a farm. It became one of those neat little rows of chalet bungalows seen in so many suburbs, sold at £500 a pop.

Having friends who have honest to god wee sheep farms and honest to god wee other farms I hope for your sake Martin Lewis is right and the devil is in the detail.

I don’t think it’s a politics of envy policy. (I don’t think politics of envy is a thing, but that’s another story). I think it’s an attempt to close a tax loophole used by the super rich, but maybe there needs to be more nuance. Maybe there is in the detail, as RR said only a small proportion of farms would be affected.
I agree we need to look after family farms better - I’m a city dweller now but I lived for a long time 8n a very rural, farming area.

I've been out all day and came back to 130 new posts on this thread! Just caught up - brilliant summary and analysis from you all. Thank you.

Something needed to be done about farmland and IHT because it's a very popular loophole for the wealthy to buy up farmland for the IHT benefits. A those popstars/actors etc turned "farmers" aren't in it for the love of agriculture. There's someone near us who made squillions out of covid buying up all the farmland they can. Everytime I find out about the latest purchase I think how many treatments that could have covered if they hadn't gouged as much profit as they could out of the NHS. I imagine they fuming today. Looking forward to.the next social media post.
How you fix the actual problem without adversely impacting real farmers is a tough question and I don't know the answer.

Thanks @countrygirl for explaining that. Hopefully there will be something in the detail of the plans that will mitigate the impact on genuine farmers. There is a thread running just now that makes me feel really sorry for those affected.

I agree the “fake farmers” in it for the tax breaks are annoying, but I’m worried that we have dealt a death blow to the family farm. I am worried about food quality and food security.

Much like all Govt bills, by the time it actually becomes law, it will be quite different in practice.

But given the amount of land already sold by farmers to the super rich to avoid tax, it seems farmers themselves aren't too bothered about their family farms or food production.

There is some serious doom-mongering on MN this mornong!