Welsh Conservatives have accused Welsh Labour of rank hypocrisy after Labour ministers in Westminster were forced into watering down controversial inheritance tax changes affecting farms, changes which Welsh Labour MPs had previously backed in full.

After months of sustained pressure from farmers, farming unions and rural businesses, alongside consistent opposition from Conservative MPs and Members of the Senedd, the UK Government has been forced to raise the inheritance tax threshold on agricultural land from £1 million to £2.5 million.

Welsh Labour MPs, who only recently voted against Conservative attempts to scrap the policy entirely, are now welcoming the Government’s partial climbdown and the Welsh Conservatives have condemned their change of view as cynical and disingenuous.

Commenting, Samuel Kurtz MS, Welsh Conservative Shadow Cabinet Secretary for Rural Affairs, said:

“Let’s be clear: these changes happened only because of relentless pressure from farmers, farming unions and rural communities who stood together. Conservative MPs and MSs were proud to stand alongside them in their fight for fairness.

“Welsh Labour MPs sat on their hands, backed this tax raid when it mattered, and even voted against efforts to scrap it altogether. Farmers across Wales will not forget that. It is deeply hypocritical for them now to welcome changes they actively opposed.

“It is frankly shameful that Welsh Labour are attempting to take credit for reforms they resisted, which in any case are too little and too late for many family farms.”

Mr Kurtz added that while the increased threshold is welcome, many working farms will still be caught by the tax, particularly in areas where land values are high but profit margins remain tight.

“This fight is not over. Welsh Conservatives will continue to push for the full scrapping of this damaging tax. Farmers need a friend, and they will always have one in the Welsh Conservatives.”

Clwyd West MS Darren Millar said:

“Farmers in North Wales have faced more than a year of uncertainty because Welsh Labour chose party loyalty over standing up for rural Wales. Welsh Conservatives will always back family farms.”