Labour MP suspended for rebelling against Reeves' Budget over inheritance tax for farmers
Markus Campbell-Savours was the only Labour MP to vote against the controversial change
Labour MP Markus Campbell-Savours has had the party whip suspended after refusing to back the Government's inheritance tax raid on farmers.
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The MP for Penrith & Solway MP Markus Campbell-Savours went against his own party on Tuesday night's vote.
He was the only Labour MP to oppose the change to inheritance tax rules for farmers as part of budget measures approved on Tuesday evening, although dozens of Labour MPs abstained in the House of Commons.
Plans to introduce a 20 per cent tax on farm estates worth more than £1 million from April have sparked backlash.
Last week, more than a dozen heavy-machinery vehicles could be seen in Whitehall as farmers descended on the capital to call on Rachel Reeves to scrap proposed inheritance tax changes, as they warned huge tax bills that could force small farms to sell up.
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Speaking in the Commons debate last night, Mr Campbell-Savours said: "There remain deep concerns about the proposed changes to agricultural property relief (APR).
"Changes which leave many, not least elderly farmers, yet to make arrangements to transfer assets, devastated at the impact on their family farms."
It comes as Ms Reeves faces accusations she misled voters by overstating the scale of the fiscal challenge in the run-up to last week’s Budget, in which she announced £26 billion of tax rises.
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch claimed on Wednesday that the Chancellor could be prosecuted for market abuse.
“We now know that the head of the OBR was forced out for telling the truth that the Chancellor did not need to raise taxes on working people," she said during PMQs.
“We also know that the Chancellor was briefing the media, twisting the facts, all so she could break her promises and raise taxes.“If she was a CEO, she would have been fired, and she might even have been prosecuted for market abuse. That’s why we’ve written to the Financial Conduct Authority.
So will the Prime Minister ensure the Chancellor fully co-operates with any investigation."
Sir Keir Starmer hit back, telling MPs she is "completely losing the plot."