• Budget: Family farm tax will hit rural communities
• Welsh Liberal Democrats comment in advance of Budget
• Scot Lib Dems respond to UK budget
• Budget: Family farm tax will be utterly devastating for rural Scotland

Budget: Family farm tax will hit rural communities

Responding to the Government’s changes to Agricultural Property Relief, Liberal Democrat Environment Spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

This is a family farm tax which risks ringing the death knell for local farmers and the small businesses who rely on them. Small family-owned farms will also be hit by this and will be forced to sell up, with young people robbed of their opportunity to farm.

After years of the Conservatives taking rural communities for granted, it is deeply disappointing to see more of the same from this new government.

We’ll be fighting tooth and nail to protect family farms from these changes. Liberal Democrats backed British farmers by demanding an extra £1bn to support them during the election, and we’ll keep being a strong voice for our rural communities.

Welsh Liberal Democrats comment in advance of Budget

Commenting ahead of the 2024 UK Government budget, the Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats Jane Dodds MS said:

The UK Government have the perfect opportunity to begin fixing the mess created by their Conservative predecessors.

Sky-high waiting lists are currently preventing thousands from receiving urgently needed healthcare, while out of control business rates are placing unnecessary pressures on our local businesses.

We want more money for our struggling NHS and social care services, so that the people of Wales are able to access healthcare services when and wherever they’re needed.

We want to see burden of any tax rises fall on the big banks, fossil fuel industries and big tech, not on our small local businesses.

By delivering a budget that works for the people of Wales, one which will support our public services and economy, we can begin to rebuild our economy for a brighter future.

Scot Lib Dems respond to UK budget

Responding to the UK budget, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton said:

I’m glad that the Chancellor has listened to Liberal Democrat calls for more investment in the NHS. Here in Scotland we will keep pressure on the Scottish Government to ensure that extra resource is directed to giving people fast access to NHS services like local GPs and dentists while alleviating the crisis in mental health.

The Scottish Government now have some major choices to make. In the past they have chosen poorly, wasting hundreds of millions on ferries that have not been delivered and tens of millions on a bureaucratic takeover of social care which will probably now never happen.

Scottish Liberal Democrats will press for the Scottish Government to deliver the fair deal that our communities need. First and foremost, this means funding for our NHS but it also means investing in rebuilding Scottish education, fixing crumbling infrastructure and social care.

On the government’s increase to employers’ National Insurance, he added:

“It is very concerning to see the Chancellor repeat a number of the Conservatives’ mistakes today. Raising employer’s National Insurance is a tax on jobs and high streets.

“Instead of raising the money we need by reversing Conservative tax cuts for the big banks, or asking the social media and tech giants to pay a bit more, the Chancellor has chosen unfair tax hikes that will hurt the hard-working families, small businesses and family farms that are the engines of our economy.”

Budget: Family farm tax will be utterly devastating for rural Scotland

Responding to the UK Government’s changes to Agricultural Property Relief, Scottish Liberal Democrat Alistair Carmichael MP said:

I fear that the Treasury does not realise the damage that this change to inheritance tax could do. As well as cutting deep into the heart of local, family-owned farms, it will deal a huge blow to all those small businesses that depend on them: from vets to agricultural merchants to local shops and post offices. The people most immediately at risk are tenant farmers as their landlords look at ways in which inheritance tax might be avoided.

That is without mentioning the concerning decision to cut farm budgets in real terms, which will have knock-on effects across the UK and goes against the government’s stated aim of building up our food security. Labour may have inherited a legacy of farm budget mismanagement from the Tories, but it is their decision if they double down on the same mistakes.

Liberal Democrats will fight tooth and nail to protect farms from these changes and continue to be a strong voice for rural Scotland.