Gareth Davies MS, Senedd Member for the Vale of Clwyd, spoke out against the UK Government’s inheritance tax changes, warning that they pose an existential threat to Welsh family farms.
Speaking in the Senedd during questions to the Deputy First Minister and Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, Gareth highlighted the impact that cuts to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief will have on farming families across North Wales.
From April 2026, the average Welsh farm will be subject to a 20% inheritance tax, which he argued will force the average farming family to sell their land to survive. Gareth drew attention reports from the National Farmers Union indicating that up to 70,000 farms across Britain could be affected, describing the policy as ‘asset stripping’.
He warned that the tax will put rural communities, food security, and the Welsh agricultural heritage at risk. He also outlined his view that the average farming family are not cash rich, warning that the policy could remove land from families who have cultivated it for generations and hand them over to large corporate asset managers, citing the Prime Minister’s relationship with the multinational asset management banking firm Blackrock.
Gareth concluded his remarks by criticising the Welsh Labour Party’s perceived inaction, accusing them of siding with financial institutions rather than standing up for hardworking farmers. He challenged the Welsh Government to provide urgent reassurance to farmers in North Wales and clarify whether they support rural communities or international hedge funds looking to buy up farmland.
Following the exchange, Gareth said:
“This is not just a simple tax, it’s tantamount to asset stripping. Hardworking farming families, who have cultivated their land across generations, risk being forced to sell up.
“It’s outrageous that farms in Wales could end up in the hands of corporate investors while the Welsh Government stands idly by.
“The UK Government has been cosying up to big banks looking to buy Welsh agricultural land, so given their ‘partnership in power,’ we can intuit that the Welsh Government are satisfied with this.
“I will fight tooth and nail to defend our farmers, If Labour won’t stand up for them, the Welsh Conservatives will.”