IT HAS been interesting watching and reading the protests about the farm inheritance tax.
None of us want to see farmers squeezed out, but surely making farms an attractive proposition to the wealthy is exactly the kind of thing that forces up the price of land.
Moreover, is it fair for anyone to be immune from tax? I accept the industry is tough but so are many industries. Does that mean for example they should also not pay any tax?
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What then? No NHS? No schools? No maintained roads?
At a time most of the country is living out of foodbanks I think it is rather crass to see Jeremy Clarkson and Andrew Lloyd Webber join the file and rank of farmers suggesting this new tax would be an insurmountable obstacle for them.
This action is clearly aimed at the wealthy whose hoovering up of farms as a way of minimising inheritance tax bills is exactly what is pushing up the cost of land and excluding new entrants from buying their own farms.
So to those who are protesting, I would ask this: How else would you recommend making these millionaires pay their proper share to support the services we all need?
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