'The collateral damage will be more than anyone thought' - Your Letters: January 15

WHY WE SHOULD BACK FARMERS

Before the election I wrote a piece for the Farming section of the Star, asking how Labour might help farming. It got no further than my computer for one reason or another. But would I have asked about Inheritance Tax? I don’t think so.

I didn’t really understand what it was or how it would have affected me if I’d still been farming. Who would? I’ve had a lot of farming friends talking about how it would affect them, and they are desperate, for all sorts of reasons, some of which I’d never thought of.

I try to compare it with my situation now, just a house and a garden, and when I turn my toes up, how can I ensure that as much of my hard-earned money can be passed on to my family – which is what we all want, isn’t it? But this isn’t the same as passing on my business. Every farmer is saying “This is my life” and “I’ve been here all my life”, and “I want to pass it onto my children”. It sounds a bit “privileged” doesn’t it, to us who aren’t in that position, and I don’t understand the ins and outs of the new tax situation, but I have lived the 24/7, 365 days a year life that comes with that privilege, and understand and still miss it, every day, as my poor bored friends know!

On my Facebook page recently, a farmer on his way to the London march, spoke. His father started on the farm when he was young, and now this son is keeping the farm going, for his children, and he has an apprentice who he’s been paying a wage and NI for but will have to increase these in the future, therefore, he says he probably won’t be able to afford another, because he’ll have to start planning his money differently.