Blunkett urges Labour to learn from family farm tax 'mistakes'

Lord Blunkett has urged Labour to learn from the “mistakes” of its family farm tax as calls grow for a wider reset of government policy towards rural Britain.

The former home secretary said inheritance tax changes affecting family farms should serve as a warning to ministers, while also calling for proposals to ban trail hunting to be dropped.

His intervention comes ahead of the Countryside Alliance’s Campaign for the Countryside launch in Westminster on Monday (14 September), where farming and rural representatives will press the government over a series of policies they say have damaged countryside communities.

Former NFU president and crossbench peer Minette Batters is among the headline speakers at the event, which will also bring together politicians and representatives from farming, rural businesses, horseracing, greyhound racing, shooting, hunting and angling.

The Alliance has identified 27 measures introduced or proposed since 2024, including inheritance tax changes affecting family farms, the closure of SFI24, higher National Insurance costs and rising wage bills.

Writing in The Telegraph, Lord Blunkett said Prime Minister Andy Burnham should learn from the “mistakes” of introducing the family farm tax and “set aside proposals to ban trail hunting”.

The comments add to growing pressure on Labour over its relationship with farmers and rural voters.

Lord Blunkett warned of “greater dissatisfaction” among countryside communities with successive generations of politicians.

“We know that inequality is greater in the countryside,” he wrote in the paper.

“But we also know there are grievances built on long-held feelings that the urban majority take walking, picnicking and viewing the countryside for granted.”

He said such resentment was “why a reset is so necessary” and urged the prime minister to “firstly, set aside proposals to ban trail hunting”.

“For our countryside to be sustainable, it requires a listening government,” he added.

The Countryside Alliance has called for a “rural reset” with government, arguing that farmers and rural businesses have faced mounting pressures over the past two years.

Alongside inheritance tax changes and the end of SFI24, the organisation has highlighted growing competition for agricultural land and higher employment costs.

It has also raised concerns over firearms licensing fees, betting affordability checks, proposals affecting trail hunting and game shooting, and changes to the tax treatment of double-cab pickups.

Mr Burnham said four days before entering No 10 that he “fully supported” the proposed trail hunting ban.

However, ministers delayed publication of the plans last week following a backlash from voters.

The Countryside Alliance says the countryside contributes more than £300 billion a year to the economy and supports more than four million jobs, alongside its role in national food security.

Its Westminster campaign will call for a broader change in the government’s approach to rural Britain, as pressure continues over policies affecting farmers and countryside businesses.

Lord Blunkett said: “For our countryside to be sustainable, it requires a listening government.”