Comments by "Pob" (@goodlookinouthomie1757) on "Why inheritance tax charges are really good for real farmers – but not for financial whizz kids" video.

I'm the son of a farmer; I still live and work on our family farm. What Richard is saying may make sense in a broader economic frame, but it is of stark comfort to farmers right now, who will nevertheless face financial hardship and dispossession of their property come 2026. It sounds as though what he's saying is that farmers are the eggs that have to be broken to make the omelette in the future. Richard may claim that farmers are protesting the wrong thing, but when that thing is a very real and imminent threat to their livelihood and the heritage that has been passed down for generations, I would dispute this.
17
The amount that supermarkets charge their customers and what they pay farmers are two entirely different things.
14
I've seen in some supermarkets they have started trying to offer cheaper vegetables that are "all sorts of shapes" meaning they are less picky about the cosmetics of the product. This may be the start of a positive change as you say. Nevertheless, the customer is still going to sort through everything, squeezing and assessing before they buy.
11
@SmileyEmoji42 Evidently we are too comfortable and too well fed. There will come a day when this is no longer the case.
8
Let me tell you about our farm. We have about 300 acres in the midlands. I'm guessing but let's say it's worth £4 million if you include the buildings, equipment, livestock etc. So when my parent pass on and the land comes down to my brother and I to farm, my family will receive a tax bill to the tune of a million quid. In what possible way does this not utterly destroy our business without us having to sell off large parts of our land that has been passed down for generations... most likely to someone far more wealthy than we are.
7
In years to come, we'll look back and laugh on these jolly old japes we're having, when we end up in the global war that most western governments seem intent on inciting. At that point, we'll go from being able to import 40% - 50% of our food down to single figures and suddenly the few farmers who haven't been driven out of business and their crops replaced with migrant reservations will be treated like rock stars. We'll suddenly remember why food production is a critical national resource that must be afforded concessions for reasons that I will not insult anyone's intelligence by explaining further.
7
I mean not to mention housing. And we all know why we need more houses. Our population grows by 350k per year and it's not because the natives are having babies.
4
She can't articulate these points because she herself has likely not even thought about them. They see a quick cash and land grab, it's as simple as that - and the extra spring in their step is the classic communist "liquidise the kulaks" sentiment and we've all seen that movie before haven't we.
4
He probably can, but it's not about him it's about smaller farmers. Which is why I am impressed with Clarkson standing up when he doesn't need to. Smaller farmers are going to be decimated by this, that's a fact and one that Richard does not even dispute in the video. Clarkson doesn't need to give a damn about this, his farm is about 1000 acres so he would be liable for a couple of £million in tax - small spuds for him. It puts his involvement in a new light for me.
3
I have a brother and a father who are both farmers and am pretty sure they'd say it was all well and good talking about these economic policies from an ivory tower but it does not help farmers in the reality of here and now, because they WILL face serious financial hardship and possible loss of their land when this hits them in the next few years. THIS is what farmers are protesting.... it's the real and imminent threat of being dispossessed of their livelihood and family heritage. It's very well for Richard to sit there and say "This is for the best in the long run".
3
Not just vital for the economy, but vital for our very survival in the event of a crisis. But, the government seem to think the world is becoming a much more stable and peaceful place, since they apparently are happy to keep increasing the percentage of food that we import from all over the world.
2
@slayerrocks2 There is serious discussion in our house about all options, believe me.
2
@EvoraGT430 He is exactly right. I agree with Richard in his analysis of the problem overall. But this tax change is basically condemning thousands of farmers to disenfranchisement of their land or financial dire straits. Nothing Richard says is of any comfort nor will it be of any help to the farmers who are protesting.
2
A whole new industry of agricultural tax advisers is about to be created.
2
We've all seen this movie before. But it does seem that every few generations we have to be reminded of exactly what a scourge communism is.
1
@Redf322 Read about the kulaks.
1
@Redf322 And no I'm not American. My family and I own and run a farm in the Midlands.
1
@Redf322 Oh okay so real communism hasn't been tried is what you're saying.
1
So, come 2026.... a farmer with say 500 acres of land with a total worth of maybe £6 million including equipment, livestock, extant crops... comes to pass his business down to his son and gets hit with a £1 million tax bill.... How do you address this imminent reality, Richard? What you're saying makes some sense.. if there had always been inheritance tax on farmland then the situation would not have arisen... but it is of no help whatsoever to farmers right now. Are you basically saying that farmers today must be sacrificed along with a good chunk of their productive land, in order to make the omelette so to speak?
1
Inheritance tax is a moral obscenity on it's face.
1
 @Redf322 "Give back" to whom? Who did I take it from. As I recall, I earned my property through hard work and prudent financial decisions.
1
She had less of a conversation with him, more of a list of Labour Party talking points.
1
None of this is true for the small farmer of a few hundred acres, for who I can personally assure you, farming is not very profitable.
1
@RichardJMurphy I listened to your entire video Richard and do not necessarily disagree. But the reality is that many farmers WILL be disenfranchised of their land and family heritage because of this in the next few years. That's just the hard fact. This is what they are protesting... not the lofty wider economic musings of it.
1
@RichardJMurphy Protesting is their choice you mean?
1
@Fireclaws10 But in the meantime that is still going to destroy a LOT of farms for decades as this problem gets ironed out. So it seems to me that the farmers are quite justified in their protest. By the way... when we get this war that our leaders seem intent on provoking.... British farming will be profitable again.
1
@Fireclaws10 Sorry to tell you... that's massaging the figures at best, at worst it's an outright lie. My family run about 300 acres in the Midlands. This is an average sized farm. Our land alone is worth at least £3 million on the lower end of land values... without including buildings, livestock, extant crops, machinery and the house, which are all factored into the value of the inheritance and might add another 1.5 mil to the total. I'm not taking seriously the claim that our properties is in the top 117 most valuable farms in the UK. That's hilarious.
1
@Fireclaws10 I'd be interested if you can point me toward this source from the BBC because I'd be very interested to look deeper into it. I suspect they might mean this policy will affect 117 farms on the day of the change, or maybe even 177 farms per year after it... even that seems a naively low estimate.
1
This is so obvious. And frankly if a wealthy individual like Jeremy Clarkson wants to buy lots of land... even if it is to avoid tax.... as long as he is producing essential food on that land then good luck to him.
1
The whole point of the IHT exemption was a recognition that farming is an essential national asset. As far as I'm concerned I don't care how wealthy the guy that owns the field is or whether he is paying tax on it.... if the field is producing food that we need. We may not always have the luxury of importing half of our food.
1
Pretty much every farmer I have ever met has been the owner and usually sole worker, along with maybe a son, of a modest farm between 300 - 1000 acres. However this is in the Midlands of England so the location obviously makes a lot of difference.
1
If a rich investor wants to "game the system" by, well... growing essential food that we all need.... then good luck to him.
1
What are your immigration figures like?
1
We still get subsidies....
1
Farms are struggling because we import half our food. The problem is that this may not always be possible and in a very uncertain world, it may change very quickly. The simple reality of this tax change is it will put a LOT (likely the majority) of farmers either our of business or in serious financial hardship. It's a very short-sighted move.
1
@william_marshal So why did the EU do that? Perhaps there were some who recognised that in times of crisis (Which WILL occur), farmers would be essential and that it would be grave folly to allow the entire industry to be cast aside for current whims.
1
What happens when a war starts? Do they think this something that will never happen again? I remember my Grandad (we are a farming family) telling me how during the war farming became extremely valuable and profitable after being in a dire situation just years beforehand. For OBVIOUS reasons. Governments over my entire lifetime seem to have become ever more disconnected from reality.
1
@Redf322 It's legitimate to rent out land in order that someone skilled can produce food on it. The result is the same... food is being produced. We might one day need to produce all the food we possibly can within our borders.
1
And at the same time they seem intent on provoking Putin into a major conflict with Europe, ensuring that our global food supply chain becomes ever more precarious.
1