The food supply chain has joined forces to urge the Treasury to rethink changes to inheritance tax announced at the Budget.
A total of 57 food manufacturers and retailers have joined the UK farming unions in a joint letter voicing concerns about the government’s plan to scrap Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR).
The food manufacturing industry contributes £162 billion to the economy and supports over 4.5 million jobs, and the coalition warns that removing these reliefs threatens the long-term stability of the nation’s food resilience.
All the major supermarket retailers have got involved, alongside processors and manufacturers from the sectors, including pork producers Cranswick and Pilgrim’s, to voice their concerns about the government’s plan to scrap Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR).
The NFU has led the charge in writing a letter from the food supply chain. NFU President Tom Bradshaw said: “We have made our views on this awful family farm tax very clear. Now so have 57 other businesses across the food supply chain.
“This abhorrent policy has united farming and the whole of the supply chain like never before. How loud does the chorus of concern around the policy have to be for the Treasury to listen and take action?”
The nation’s food security relies on continued investment to futureproof sustainable food production, at a time when the government has stated that food security is national security.
It also highlights the barriers the changes could cause for boosting growth and productivity in the sector and tackling diet-related health issues.
Mr Bradshaw continued, “Scrapping critical inheritance tax reliefs not only affects family-run farms, but it stands to have far-reaching consequences for the whole industry, from food processors to supermarket retailers.
“Faced with a backdrop of global instability, a changing climate, high input costs and a growing global population to feed, this policy risks destabilising an industry that is vital to feeding the nation and one that supports millions of jobs.
“Because when one link in a supply chain, the link that is producing the raw materials, has a crisis of confidence and has already all but stopped investment, it has an impact on the whole of the industry; an impact that will eventually be felt on supermarket shelves. Is this the vision for economic growth the country was promised?
“With large numbers of Britain’s biggest manufacturing sector – food and drink – against this policy, it is time for the Chancellor to heed our calls to meet to discuss options and find a way forward out of this current mess.”
