Previous policy would have led to inheritance tax being levied on farms valued at over £1m The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs has taken the lead in announcing today’s farm inheritance tax U-turn, not the Treasury, which pushed the policy in the first place. One reason why it was particular controversial was because Steve Reed, the former environment secretary, told farms when he was shadow environment secretary before the election that their farms would be safe from inheritance tax. Defra says today’s change will “significantly reduce” the number of farms affected by higher inheritance tax bills. -The number of estates claiming agricultural property relief (including those also claiming business property relief) affected by the reforms in 2026-27 halves from 375 to 185. -Most estates will benefit, with inheritance tax cut by hundreds of thousands of pounds for many families. The government has today announced that the level of the agricultural and business property reliefs threshold will be increased from £1m to £2.5m when it is introduced in April 2026. This allows spouses or civil partners to pass on up to £5m in qualifying agricultural or business assets between them before paying inheritance tax, on top of existing allowances. Following the reforms to agricultural and business property reliefs announced at budget 2024, the government has listened to concerns of the farming community and businesses about the reforms. Continue reading...

All delegates will be able to attend fringe programme as party tries to find compromise while complying with supreme court ruling on gender Trans women will be barred from the main part of Labour’s women’s conference next year, the party has said, with entrance to the main conference hall and voting rights denied. All delegates will be allowed to attend a fringe programme, under the party’s plans, as Labour seeks to find a compromise position it believes will comply with the supreme court’s ruling on gender – while also being inclusive to trans delegates. Continue reading...