MP SIMON Hoare has challenged a Labour minister to come to his constituency and tell a farmer what the “silver linings” are during the inheritance tax debate. 

The Conservative North Dorset MP was speaking to Daniel Zeichner, minister for food security and rural affairs, in the House of Commons. 

Under Labour’s budget, inheritance tax will be charged at 20 per cent on farms worth more than £1 million. 

However, chancellor Rachel Reeves has said in some cases the threshold could in practice be about £3 million. 

Mr Hoare said: “The minister is seeing silver linings in the clouds hanging over family farms and tenanted farms in North Dorset, but I must confess that I fail to see them.  

“I will give ask the minister a simple yes or no question: yes or no, will he come to North Dorset to meet farmers in my constituency and explain these wonderful silver linings that he can see in the clouds but none of us on the opposition benches can see?” 

Mr Zeichner replied: “I love visiting farms all over the country, and I am sure North Dorset will feature on my list at some point in the future.” 

He urged people to be “temperate in their language on these issues, because people are stressed, anxious and worried”. 

The minister added: “My task is to be calm, sensible and reassuring to them, and to remind them that the vast majority will be able to pass on their farms just as they have before.  

“Just as pressing is to tackle those other real issues that they face.” 

The chancellor has faced criticism for changes to inheritance tax for farmers, with many opposition MPs calling for the government to reconsider this proposal. 

Conservative former minister Wendy Morton called on the government to “abolish what I and others would now term the family farm tax”. 

She added: “My farmers are devastated, promises made to them have been broken with no consultation, no opportunity to plan. 

“This government has shown it is no friend of the farmer, the producers of our food, the guardians of our countryside. From food heroes during Covid, to being abandoned in the cold.” 

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds claimed only 500 farms will be impacted by the change.