SIR Keir Starmer suggested he is aware some farmers are considering taking their own lives to avoid his inheritance tax raid – but said he will not budge.
The Prime Minister faced claims at the Commons Liaison Committee over Labour’s planned changes to farm inheritance tax due to come in from April.
Senior Labour MP Cat Smith told him some elderly and terminally ill farmers were “actively planning to expedite their own deaths” before the changes take effect.
She said rural communities who put their trust in Labour now feel “misled” by the policy announced in Rachel Reeves’s first Budget.
Pressed on whether he was aware of farmers contemplating suicide, Sir Keir replied: “I’ve had discussions with a number of individuals who have drawn all manner of things to my attention.”
Despite that, the PM made clear he intends to press ahead.
He said he understood the concerns and had met the president of the National Farmers’ Union.
But he insisted reforms to agricultural property relief amounted to “sensible reform”.
The change is expected to bring in around £500 million a year for the Exchequer.
Lib Dem MP Alistair Carmichael also warned that nobody should feel they would be “better off dying between now and next April”.
But the PM replied: “No, of course.
“But governments have to bring about sensible reform.”
How to get help
EVERY 90 minutes in the UK a life is lost to suicide
It doesn’t discriminate, touching the lives of people in every corner of society – from the homeless and unemployed to builders and doctors, reality stars and footballers.
It’s the biggest killer of people under the age of 35, more deadly than cancer and car crashes.
And men are three times more likely to take their own life than women.
Yet it’s rarely spoken of, a taboo that threatens to continue its deadly rampage unless we all stop and take notice, now.
If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support:
