Rachel Reeves issued horror supermarket supply warning as she places farmers on the brink .hh
EXCLUSIVE: The Chancellor has been warned that she has triggered ‘untold devastation’.
Rachel Reeves announced a new levy on farmers in October. (Image: Getty)
Rachel Reeves has been issued a horror supermarket supply warning as her stance on farm inheritance tax is set to result in “untold devastation”.
An expert has said that farmers are already having “difficult conversations” about the future of their land after the Chancellor presented her Budget in October.
From April 2026, inheritance tax relief for business and agricultural assets will be capped at £1 million, with a new reduced rate of 20% being charged above that.
Express.co.uk has been told that the policy will push farms over the edge, and the country’s largest supermarkets, such as Sainsbury’s Tesco and Asda, will have to switch to foreign imports of food.
READ MORE: Iceland boss slams Rachel Reeves’ farm tax after supporting Labour
The supply of British beef will be affected by Reeves’ tax, it is believed. (Image: Getty)
75% of farms are to be affected by the change, campaigners claim, which will affect the supply of crops, meat – whihc is at a “higher standard” than produce from abroad – and dairy.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director at the Countryside Alliance, said: “Farmers are having very difficult conversations right now about the future of their farms. It’s all about the next generation.
“When the the older farmers, so the farmers in their 80s, leave us, it will be on the next generation to foot that bill.”
“And for a lot of them, despite what Rachel Reeves says, it is a figure that they can’t overcome. They can’t do it without selling off land, and for some people it’s just too much.”
The Government claims that its policy is “balanced and proportionate,” and around 500 claims a year are expected to be affected.
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Supermarkets will have to sell foreign imports instead of British produce, an expert says (Image: Getty)
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Mr Metcalf-Fisher added that supermarkets and their customers will start to notice the negative consequences over the longer term as farms become unable to meet the demand.
He said it is “basic maths”, and that Ms Reeves stance will end up “eroding our reliance on our own produce”.
“One of the first duties of Government,” he said, “is to make sure that we have a healthy domestic food supply.”
It comes after Iceland’s boss, Richard Walker, said that the Treasury has “parked its tractor in the wrong place, going after hard-working British farmers.”
The retail chief added: “Let’s stop messing around and make online sales tax reform the priority. High streets and farmers are the bedrock of this great country; we need to get behind them.”
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