𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Many British farms have been forced to close over the last year, with suggestions that economic conditions were made untenable by the Labour Government’s tax raids. More than 6,000 agricultural, fishing and forestry businesses shut their doors over the last 12 months, according to data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the highest since quarterly records were first published in 2017. Over half of the closures took place during the first six months of 2025, the data shows, implying a correlation between Rachel Reeves’ announcement of a 20% inheritance tax on agricultural assets worth over £1 million in the October budget.

The total number of sites that shut in the last year has reached 6,365, with just over 3,000 being set up during the same period – meaning British farms are disappearing at a record pace. “The crippling NICs (National Insurance contributions) increases, alongside the family farm and family firm taxes, are destroying generational businesses, creating job instability and even leading to devastating suicides,” shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said.

Describing the inheritance tax hike as just one of the Government’s “disastrous tax policies”, Ms Atkins told The Telegraph: “These statistics prove that Labour do not understand our rural communities and our rural communities cannot afford Labour.”

Reform UK MP Lee Anderson added that the combined impact of rising taxes and regulations were “pushing British farmers to the brink”.

“No government in modern history has done more damage to rural Britain than Labour is right now,” he said. “Farms are closing at twice the rate new ones are opening. This is completely unsustainable. Labour has betrayed the industry that helped build this country.”

British farms currently do not incur inheritance tax when passing agricultural land between generations, and receive full relief on the normal 40% rate. This is set to change from April 2026, however, with sector workers arguing that their businesses provide little in the way of cash-in-hand profits and warning that they will be forced to sell land to cover the new bills.

The Daily Express’s Save Britain’s Family Farms campaign has demanded a U-turn on the measures, which senior industry figures have said could also wreak havoc on the UK economy.

An economic report by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), published earlier this year, found that the inheritance tax reforms would cost the Treasury almost £2 billion, and cause over 200,000 job losses, by the end of the decade.

Victoria Vyvyan, president of the Country Land and Business Association (CLBA), said: “Farmers trying to modernise or diversify are blocked at every turn – by red tape, by National Insurance rises, by a government that talks growth while pulling out the foundations beneath it.

“Still, the countryside carries on. New businesses are opening. People are holding on. But grit isn’t a strategy. What’s needed now is simple: stability, clarity, and a government willing to listen – before more farms are lost and more families are forced out.”

A spokesperson for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said: “Our commitment to farming and food security is steadfast and farming profits in the UK increased by £1.6bn last year.

“We are slashing costs and red tape for food producers to export to the EU, have appointed former NFU president Baroness Minette Batters to recommend reforms to boost farmers’ profits, and we’re ensuring farmers get a bigger share of food contracts across our schools, hospitals, and prisons.”