Ten landowners - just ten! - own one sixth of Dorset. They include Jonathan Harmsworth... whose family own the Daily Mail. Are alarm bells beginning to ring over the way this debate's being framed? /14
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Now, I should add I do feel Labour is in trouble politically here. We have a romanticized vision of how country life works. The problem is the mental image most people have of farming... is out of date. /15
After looking into these stats, I suspect Labour made a mistake. They argued for their IHT changes simply as a result of the Tories' economic mismanagement, when in reality there's a very different case that can be made. /16
The current IHT rules have helped family farms run for a long time. Now, they have become one of several things that are killing off the farming industry. There's a very strong case for reform here imo. /17
Remember: 400,000 hectares of agricultural land were taken out of use for farming IN THE LAST YEAR. We can't allow that to continue, and so IHT reform seems like it's needed - to protect the industry. /18
For me the issue is the loopholes which remain for wealthy landowners. Trusts, handing over 7 years before death, still 1/2 what others pay. With these loopholes I just wonder what the point is more than anything?
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