M&S has urged the government to reconsider reforms to inheritance tax relief for farmers, warning of damaging consequences for rural communities and Britain’s food security.
M&S Food MD Alex Freudmann said: “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.”
The FTSE 100 retailer has joined the National Farmers’ Union in pressing ministers to extend consultation on proposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief.
The decades-old reliefs currently shield many family farms from punitive tax bills when land is passed between generations.
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The government has pledged to remove the carve-out in April 2026, claiming the system is being abused by wealthy landowners to avoid tax. The Treasury insists that three-quarters of estates will continue to pay no inheritance tax, with the rest able to spread payments over ten years, interest-free.
However, farming leaders and rural groups argue the changes risk destabilising multi-generational family farms at a time when incomes are under pressure from rising costs, trade disruption and environmental compliance. Farmers have staged protests across the UK, branding the reforms a “family farm tax”.
M&S has also written to ministers, warning of “doubt … that there was a genuine national commitment to increasing the domestic supply of food”.
Freudmann argued that a legally binding target to increase the proportion of UK-grown food “would galvanise cross-government action” and “tilt the balance towards farmers and growers in decisions around planning or access to water”.
Reed, Reynolds’ predecessor, did not respond to the letter, according to sources. Reynolds, appointed environment secretary last week, visited a pig farm on Saturday in one of her first engagements in the role.
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