Currently, ‘agricultural land’ is actually tax-avoidance real estate, and its value has nothing to do with food production, but everything to do with a very lucrative tax-avoidance wheeze (that is why BlackRock is buying it up). If this loophole is closed, the value of ‘agricultural land’ will fall sharply, so these wealthy people will lose their tax break and the value of their investment will fall. Hence the loud noises. Real farmers will benefit because the value of their property will fall and the inheritance tax bill will be correspondingly much reduced. They may also be able to extend their landholding at a price that reflects its agricultural potential.
However, the wealthy investors have nothing to fear; The Government has refused to rejoin the Single Market or the Customs Union. Consequently, the economy will continue to flatline and the Tories will be back in power in August 2029, or earlier. They will restore the lost tax breaks (they may even introduce a few more for their sponsors) and reap the benefits of the investments the present Government is making. Another 13 years of Tory rule will follow.
Roger Stevens,
Cliff Way,
Compton,
Winchester
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