Dan Tomlinson MP: speeches 2026

Speeches

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  The Government have set the thresholds for tax policies over the period of the OBR’s forecast, and it would not be right for me to comment on the changes that may or may not happen after that. May I say to the right hon. Gentleman that throughout the time that Margaret Thatcher was in power, we did not have a system like the current system, so he is not quite right to say that this relief has always been there? It was not there when the political hero of many Conservative Members was in power.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  My hon. Friend is right to mention the disastrous trade deals that happened under the previous Government, and I thank him for giving me the chance to mention the trade deals that we have implemented, which seek to support businesses across the country to access more markets. I hope that, with our continued engagement with the European Union, we can continue to do that closer to home, too.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  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 and family businesses that we have come forward with the changes that we think strike the right balance.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  Of course, as the tax Minister—that is why I am at the Dispatch Box today, to address a point made earlier—I look continually at what improvements we can make to our tax system to ensure that we continue to support both rural and urban constituencies and communities up and down the country. If there are changes that the right hon. Member would like to see, he is of course welcome to write to me, on that or any other matter.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  I thank my hon. Friend for her question and for her work on the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee on this and many other important issues that affect rural communities up and down the country, as well as in her constituency—a fantastic part of the world that I am sure I will be able to visit soon. She is right that the Government are taking steps—for example, through our £11.8 billion fund to support sustainable farming and food production—and I look forward to working with Ministers in other Departments and across Government to ensure that we continue to support our rural and farming communities.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  May I thank all hon. Members on both sides of the House for their engagement on this important issue today? We have set the threshold at £2.5 million for a single person and £5 million for a couple as a result of the changes announced at the Budget 2025. We think that threshold is right and fair. It means that the number of farming estates that will be affected will fall by half, and the vast majority will pay no additional inheritance tax at all.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  We will be going ahead with the changes that were set out in our manifesto and that have been announced recently. I think that that is the right thing for us to do.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  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 from £1 million to £2.5 million. That means a couple can pass on up to £5 million of agricultural and business assets tax-free on inheritance. I briefly remind the House that, above that threshold, the tax rate is half the rate that everyone else pays—20% rather than 40%—and that those who pay it will, if they so need, have 10 years to pay it interest-free.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  If the Government had not made these changes in December, Opposition Members would have been standing here asking us to make those changes. We are coming forward with a revised position—we are increasing the threshold from £1 million to £2.5 million—and Members are criticising us for that change. We think it is the right thing to do, and we are doing it in good time—before the Finance (No.2) Bill, in which these changes will be made, is voted into law later this year. Yes, some estates—the very largest—will continue to pay more after these changes, but it is worth bearing in mind that, relative to the position of a few months ago, estates worth £2.5 million will now pay significantly less; there is a £300,000 reduction in their tax liability. For an estate worth £5 million, it is a £600,000 reduction. These are significant reductions in the amount of tax that the very largest estates will have to pay, but we do think that it is right and fair to continue with a reform that strikes the right balance between the need to raise more revenue and the need to protect smaller family farms.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  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 sufficient assets to get over the threshold. I think that is worth noting. Only around the very largest 10% of estates in the country pay any inheritance tax at all.

• 5 Jan 2026 · Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief · Hansard source

  More

  Yes, we did discuss this at Treasury questions and on Second Reading of the Finance Bill, and we will have time to discuss it in the Committee of the whole House next week too—and I can see from the number of Members wishing to speak now that there are many more questions coming so we may have many more hours today, Mr Speaker, to discuss it as well. In the end, the position that the Government have now reached is that we are going to amend the Finance Bill to make this change and increase the threshold from £1 million to £2.5 million. That will, we expect—and it will be confirmed by the Office for Budget Responsibility in the usual way at fiscal events—raise £300 million, money that we can put into our public services, rather than continue the chaos of previous years with additional borrowing. It is right to look in the round at fair and necessary tax changes that we can make on those with the broadest shoulders, so that we can fund our public services adequately.