'The collateral damage will be more than anyone thought' - Your Letters: January 15

Before the election I wrote a piece for the Farming section of the Star, asking how Labour might help farming. It got no further than my computer for one reason or another. But would I have asked about Inheritance Tax? I don’t think so.

I didn’t really understand what it was or how it would have affected me if I’d still been farming. Who would? I’ve had a lot of farming friends talking about how it would affect them, and they are desperate, for all sorts of reasons, some of which I’d never thought of.

I try to compare it with my situation now, just a house and a garden, and when I turn my toes up, how can I ensure that as much of my hard-earned money can be passed on to my family – which is what we all want, isn’t it? But this isn’t the same as passing on my business. Every farmer is saying “This is my life” and “I’ve been here all my life”, and “I want to pass it onto my children”. It sounds a bit “privileged” doesn’t it, to us who aren’t in that position, and I don’t understand the ins and outs of the new tax situation, but I have lived the 24/7, 365 days a year life that comes with that privilege, and understand and still miss it, every day, as my poor bored friends know!

On my Facebook page recently, a farmer on his way to the London march, spoke. His father started on the farm when he was young, and now this son is keeping the farm going, for his children, and he has an apprentice who he’s been paying a wage and NI for but will have to increase these in the future, therefore, he says he probably won’t be able to afford another, because he’ll have to start planning his money differently.

He's there to farm, he loves the life, and I totally understand that, and in some ways, it is a privilege, but it’s also vital to produce food for us. With Government rules and constraints, he can’t produce as much as he could, say, 20 or more years ago, and ‘we’ are paying for this via Government subsidies. But that’s another issue! We also get cheaper food because of these subsidies, so it is a bit of a win-win situation. However, as he can’t make a living and re-invest in the farm, to keep up to date with advances and new rules, he's had to sell buildings for holiday lets and expensive homes, which although you may think this is Ok, it’s not what the land is for. I've just learned about the “Balfour” test. That's another rule that says, to get business relief, the farm must make more than 50% of its income from farming, meaning that they can’t increase their “diversification” income. So, to raise their IHT they could be forced to sell land, which will reduce their farming income even more.

So, what’s wrong with selling a bit of land, someone else will farm it instead. Unless it’s someone with horses or alpacas – which we don’t eat in this country. Or, investors, for trees, or solar panels, which we don’t eat either, obviously, but which will offset their carbon footprint so they can go on flying to the Bahamas every year! In addition, these are the people the IHT is really targeting, but as so often happens with badly thought-out rules, the collateral damage will be more than anyone thought. This is why farmers are protesting. Many people will think, “why are farmers spending all this money on fuel and wasting their time driving to London”? Because it's a bad decision, and like the Poll Tax, (remember that?) it must not be allowed to go ahead.

Although I’ve been following the story of this tax, I bet I haven’t understood it all, so who can blame non-farmers if they don’t either, and for calling farmers rich and greedy? The working farming community - as opposed to the investors in land, will be destroyed along with our food security unless the Government rethinks their plan.

R Allen, Ellesmere

HOW TO SURVIVE THE BIG FREEZE

Today I am mainly learning how to survive when the weather turns very British. Even if you have survived for 80+ years, it is very important you listen to advice from ‘our’ NHS in the cold. I have listened carefully and will take account of the following advise from ‘our’ NHS:

• Do not wander around naked. One should wear warm clothes. It's not just your pipes that need lagging.
• Old people should not stay out in the dark after 4pm and in fact should only venture out after 3.59pm.
• Drink hot drinks or if you have no tea bags, drink a pint of whisky.
• I was reminded by the young chap on GB News that some time ago if you happen to go outside between 3.59pm and 4pm, you should make like a penguin. I'm not so sure about this as the last time I did that, old folk were falling over laughing and having to be taken to A&E.
• When it's cold, you should put your heating on.

In addition to ‘our’ NHS, I remembered that Dudley Council had a 'how to fall over department' for old people some time ago and I shall be following the tips they gave me. Mainly these involved not falling over.

AM Etheridge, West Midlands

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