Farmers' anger as council fails to back campaign

A motion put forward by the county's Conservatives would commit the area to challenging the Chancellor over planned inheritance tax changes

Farmers in Herefordshire have reacted with anger after county leaders failed to back their campaign against the government's plans to change inheritance tax on farms.

A motion put forward by Conservative councillor Nick Mason on Friday would have committed the county to protesting to the Chancellor over the changes.

But the motion was withdrawn after Cllr Terry James, leader of the Liberal Democrats, sought an amendment tying the motion to the previous Tory administration's disposal of county-owned farms.

National Farmers' Union (NFU) county chair, Martin Williams, then exchanged sharp words with James, whom he called "pathetic".

"He put petty party politics above supporting rural communities, with a point he could have made at any other time," he said.

He added that James' intervention coincided with his own party's environment spokesperson, Tim Farron MP, calling on the government to "reverse this disastrous family farm tax", while current party leader Ed Davey had previously made the same point at an NFU rally in November.

Jo Hilditch, mixed farmer and former High Sheriff of Herefordshire, also said it was "disappointing" that the Lib Dems "sought to make political capital re the selling off of smallholdings".

She added that the decision was "not thought through", as "agriculture and our farms are so important to Herefordshire's economy."

James said his group hadn't been consulted on Cllr Mason's motion, which he felt was "hypocritical" on the Conservatives' part.

He added that he felt some reform of the tax regime around farms was needed "to prevent foreign billionaires buying up and handing on land tax-free".

Mason said he was "incandescent" at the failure of his motion.