Robin Swann urges Starmer to scrap “harmful” Farm Inheritance Tax at PMQs

South Antrim MP Robin Swann speaking in The Commons

South Antrim MP Robin Swann has pressed Prime Minister Keir Starmer to rethink the Government’s proposed Family Farm Inheritance Tax, warning it could place Northern Ireland’s agriculture sector in jeopardy.

During Prime Minister’s Questions (PMQs), Mr Swann raised concerns on behalf of young farmers across the country, highlighting the anxieties of those striving to safeguard the future of farming.

He told the Commons:

“I’m joined today in the Gallery by the leadership of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster, an organisation of young people who are passionate about youth work, passionate about the rural countryside and passionate about the future of farming and agriculture.

“Agriculture policy is devolved, but the Prime Minister’s agricultural inheritance tax is the thing that has them and young farmers across all the country despairing not just for their future, but the future of food security.

“When will the Prime Minister change course on the farm family inheritance tax now that he’s taking control of tax policy?”

Mr Swann has been hosting the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster (YFCU) in Westminster this week for two days of high-level engagements with senior Ministers, Shadow Ministers, MPs and Lords.

In response, Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the YFCU delegation to Parliament and defended the Government’s farming commitments:

“Can I take this opportunity to say to him and to the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster that we’ve invested more than £2.7billion in farming and nature recovery. That’s been welcomed and of course we’re developing a 25-year farming roadmap to make the sector more profitable again.

“That has been warmly welcomed, and their future will depend on that roadmap, and we’ll work with them.”

Following the exchange, Mr Swann said he was “disappointed” by the Prime Minister’s response and pledged to continue fighting against the measure:

“I am disappointed that the government continues to pursue this incredibly harmful policy which has the potential to devastate far too many farms across Northern Ireland and put our agri-food sector in jeopardy.

“I’ll continue to push for this tax to be scrapped ahead of the new budget in November, and I hope the government act before this tax comes into effect next year.”

The debate over the proposed inheritance tax is expected to intensify in the months ahead, with farming unions and rural organisations voicing concerns about its impact on food production, family farms and generational succession.