Speeches by Tomlinson.

“Just to be clear, this policy applies only to the farming or business estates worth more than £2.5 million, or £5 million if owned by a couple. There are still significant incentives to grow and invest in people’s businesses. This tax rate is half the rate for everyone else paying inheritance tax, if they have sufficie…”

“We have come forward with a change to this policy after listening to farmers and farming communities and to the representations that have been made. We think that this is the right change. We will have the chance to debate it again when we consider the Finance (No. 2) Bill in Committee of the whole House next week, whe…”

“I have been asked that question already by an Opposition Member, but I am happy to give the right hon. Lady a similar answer. I can say to those families that we listened carefully to the representations that were made about the level of the threshold as it was originally set at the Budget in 2024, and we have now come…”

“Because I sign them off, I can tell the hon. Lady that there are many consultations on tax changes that we publish alongside fiscal events. If she wished to engage with the consultation on electric vehicle taxation, she could do so; if she wished to engage with the consultation on the high-value council tax surcharge t…”

“We are having a discussion today about agricultural property relief and business property relief. I am sure we will have many occasions in the coming weeks and months to continue to discuss the changes that the Government have made on business rates to support businesses through the transition, because of course there …”

“They can each pass it on up to £2.5 million to whomever they choose to pass it on to. In the inheritance tax system more broadly, it is the case that the various bands and allowances are only fully transferable between spouses, and this is consistent with that policy. But it would be the case that if a farm was owned, …”

“We heard what farmers were saying and that is why we have come forward with the changes we announced last month.”

“We have listened. We have made sure, after the engagement we have had with farmers across the country, their representatives and the representatives of family businesses, that we have come forward with a policy proposal that we, on the Government Benches, now think is balanced. It raises £300 million from the very larg…”

“To those families—people with farms and businesses that would have been affected by the lower threshold, but will now be affected less or not at all by the higher threshold—I would say that we have listened. Over recent months, we have heard the concerns that were raised, and that is why we have raised the threshold fr…”

“Having grown up in rural west Oxfordshire, I know the importance of farming and rural communities in the fantastic county of Oxfordshire, which thankfully now does not have a single Conservative MP—long may that continue. It is a very good thing that we have strong Labour representatives in north Oxfordshire who are co…”

“We will, of course, continue to engage with, listen to and work with farming communities on the policies that we are putting forward. It is interesting to see and hear that there is at least one wealth tax that the Green party does not support.”

“My hon. Friend makes an important point. If someone has agricultural or business assets worth £2.5 million, for example, they will now pay £300,000 less in inheritance tax than they would otherwise have paid; if they are worth £5 million, they will pay £600,000 less than they would have paid before the changes that we …”

“We will not be scrapping this tax completely. We have tabled an amendment that the House will have the chance to debate next week in Committee of the whole House on the Finance Bill. We think that the proposals that we plan to implement will raise £300 million in a fair way and protect smaller family farms.”

“I thank my hon. Friend for the engagement that we have had on this and other issues that affect his constituency, which I know contains some rural elements. He has raised an important point. We need to continue to work in partnership with farmers, and with their representatives and trade bodies, to make sure that we ca…”

“We will continue to listen to rural communities, and to farming communities, to make sure that we can support them as they seek to grow and invest in their businesses in order to improve and support the communities that they are part of. It is because we have been listening to the representatives of farming communities…”

“The Batters review focused closely on this, and we will be looking at its proposals and recommendations, and ensuring that we can do all that we can as a Government, within the constraints that we have, to continue to focus on improving farming profitability.”

“The right hon. Gentleman has mentioned the issue of trail hunting. That was in our manifesto, and it is part of our animal welfare strategy to continue with some important changes there. I think it right for governing parties to make progress on the commitments that they made when they stood before the country.”

“The previous Government negotiated poorly when it came to trade deals. When the Conservatives negotiate, Britain loses. Labour has negotiated four new significant trade deals that will help to ensure that British businesses—farming businesses and businesses of all sorts—can access more markets, more easily. That is the…”

“My hon. Friend is right to say that we on this side of the House are the true and better representatives of the rural community. There are over 150 MPs on this side of the House who represent rural or semi-rural constituencies—I believe that there are as many Labour MPs representing rural constituencies as there are MP…”

“No, I do not accept that. That is not the answer.”