‘Write to your MPs’ new UFU inheritance tax campaign

The Ulster Farmers' Union has launched a fresh local campaign 'Write to Your MPs', as part of the wider #StoptheFamilyFarmTax efforts. With the proposed changes to Inheritance Tax and Agricultural Property Relief being pushed to become law in the next few months, now is an extremely critical period. Northern Ireland farmers are being urged to get behind this new letter initiative and write to their local members of Parliament again.

Commenting, UFU president William Irvine said, "We now have a critical window of opportunity and we need to act. The draft regulations have been published and the Finance Bill will be brought forward by the Government in the coming months to make their inheritance tax proposals law. Through our 'Write to your MPs' campaign we are working to rally all local farmers, urging them to stand in solidarity with us by sending a personal letter to their local MPs. I cannot stress enough how important these individual letters are. It cannot be a copy and paste job. We need to leave it all on the page, the heartache, distress, worry, the generational graft that our families have poured into the land. Don't leave anything unsaid."

The UFU has published guidelines, available by clicking here, to help farmers structure their letter. It's vital that within it, farmers ask their MPs to forward their letter to the Treasury for an appropriate response.

"The Treasury has the power to overturn the family farm tax. The horrendous prospect has been looming over us since the Autumn budget last year. We have pulled out all the stops since then with UK wide and local campaigns, high-level meetings, local and national protests and letters. We need to show the Treasury we're not giving up and sharing your story is the vital next step. We must inundate them with personalised letters from NI farmers. We are the ones who will be disproportionately affected because NI has more family run farms and higher land values than other UK regions.

"I am urging every farmer in NI to show your support for this campaign as we are getting dangerously close to the deadline. Do it for your farm and your family, for the farmers coming behind you. Treasury need to hear it from the people affected and together we will protect the future of Northern Ireland's family farms."