Local Conservative Senedd Member Samuel Kurtz has urged Pembrokeshire’s MP Henry Tufnell to support the scrapping of the “vindictive” changes to inheritance tax (IHT) on farms, as the Conservative Party prepares to force a vote on the issue in Parliament.

Conservative MPs are set to use their opposition day debate on Wednesday, December 4, to demand Parliament hold a vote on Labour’s controversial proposal requiring farmers to pay more IHT on land.

In Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ first Budget, she announced plans to change agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR), which the Conservatives argue could leave farming families facing tax bills running into millions of pounds.

Ahead of the vote, Mr Kurtz said: “Labour’s vindictive family farm tax threatens to destroy British farming as we know it and will hit farmers across Pembrokeshire, Wales, and the rest of the UK.

“On Wednesday, MPs across the country have a choice to make: will they vote to axe the tax and save the family farm, or will they turn their backs on rural communities and support this damaging policy?”

Figures from the National Farmers Union (NFU) suggest that three-quarters of farmers will be affected. Analysis by the Country Land and Business Association (CLBA) indicates that the average 250-acre arable farm will need to sell 20 per cent of its land to pay the new IHT bill.

Mr Kurtz added: “Two weeks ago, thousands of farmers descended on Westminster to try to make the government listen. So far, they’ve refused. Labour MPs, including Pembrokeshire’s, now have a chance to side with British farming or stay silent. Which route will they take?”