Farms are worth everything and nothing at the same time - they're worth what you can produce from them, and if you have no one else to carry it on you sell it and pay your capital gains. The problem with the new rules introduced by Labour is having to pay a bill for your family member dying, while dealing with low returns. Farms have on average a 0.5% return on their investment. So, it's now going to be really hard to service that kind of debt every time a generation passes on.
My nan is still part of the business - she and my dad together - and when she passes on, there'll be a big tax bill, and if he passes before her there'll be a big tax bill. It's going to be crippling, really, for a lot of farmers. I believe the government says that it's only going to be a small percentage of farmers affected, but even Defra is saying it's going to be more like 66% of us.
There is a lot more discontent now - you hear it at the market, you hear it all around. I do think this tax is going to cause a lot more damage than what the government will gain from it.
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