Alex Freudmann, managing director of M&S Food, urged new environment secretary Emma Reynolds to back Britain’s farmers following growing anger in the countryside. “We support our farmers’ calls on the government to do more to support farming, and that includes supporting their call for a rethink on inheritance tax,” Freudmann said.
The FTSE 100 retailer has previously joined the National Farmers’ Union in pressing ministers to extend consultation on proposed changes to agricultural property relief and business property relief, which currently shield many family farms from punitive tax bills.
The sharper language signals M&S is prepared to take a firmer stance against Sir Keir Starmer’s administration, following weeks of rural unease over Labour’s approach.
M&S wrote to Reynolds’ predecessor, Steve Reed, on June 19 after consulting farmers and growers. In the letter, Freudmann warned of “doubt … that there was a genuine national commitment to increasing the domestic supply of food” and urged the government to set a clear, legal target for domestic food production.
“A clear and concrete target to increase the proportion of indigenous foods eaten in the UK that are grown in the UK would galvanise cross-government action,” Freudmann argued. “If it was set down in law, like targets around net zero or nature protection, it could also tilt the balance towards farmers and growers in decisions around planning or access to water.”
Reed did not respond to the letter, sources said. However Reynolds visited a pig farm on Saturday in one of her first trips as environment secretary.
A government spokesman defended the inheritance tax changes, saying they were vital to help repair public finances. “Our reforms to agricultural and business property relief are vital to fix the public services we all rely on. Three-quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax at all, while the remaining quarter will pay half the inheritance tax that most people pay, and payments can be spread over ten years, interest-free.”
The row comes after weeks of rural protests and concerns from farming leaders that Labour’s reforms risk destabilising family-run farms already struggling with rising costs, trade disruption and environmental compliance pressures.
Jamie Young
Jamie Young is Senior Reporter at Business Matters, covering SME finance, employment law and Westminster policy since 2016. He has reported on every Budget and Autumn Statement since 2018, helped make sense of the 'covid era' and the bounce-back loan scheme from launch through the fraud investigations, and broke the magazine's coverage of the 2024 late-payment reforms. He joined Business Matters straight from completing his BA in Administration from Exeter University and is NCTJ-qualified. Reach him at jyoung@cbmeg.co.uk
