Three-quarters of Scottish farms to be hit by UK farm tax hammer
The UK government’s attack on the future of farming which is causing huge anger across the sector and saw tractors massing in London and Edinburgh recently was based on dodgy numbers.
UK Chancellor Rachel Reeves did not consult either the Scottish government or the UK Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to check the numbers. There was no impact assessment or consultation.
Scotland cannot afford the UK's attack on its farming sector
The row over the UK Government’s decision to change the rules on agricultural inheritance tax comes at a time when Scotland’s agricultural sector is already facing huge pressures.
The new tax rules have received a lot of publicity - some of it focusing on very wealthy people like Jeremy Clarkson and James Dyson. There is undoubtedly a case for changing the tax regime so that the super-rich can’t use it as a loophole to avoid inheritance tax. However, the way it has been done is to slam more cost and uncertainty on a sector that is already breaking under the pressure.