A government minister has come under fire after stating that the Treasury's family farm tax will be used to combat shoplifting.

Torsten Bell MP has been accused of "treating the public like fools", following his claims that Rachel Reeves' changes to inheritance tax will allow for more police on the streets.

The government has recently faced strong criticism for its response to record levels of shoplifting, while the row over the family farm tax continues to blaze.

This latest justification for the tax raid on farmers is not the first time that the government has tried to claim that the changes to inheritance tax for farmers will help fund public services. 

Earlier this year, the Prime Minister said that the public needed to choose between smaller NHS waiting lists and tax breaks for farmers. "We can't have both", he said.

However, recent analysis has shown that Reeves' tax raid on farmers will in fact cost the Treasury almost £2bn, despite the Treasury claiming otherwise.

The comments follow other out of touch statements concerning farmers and the family farm tax. In May, Lord Foulkes (Labour), came under fire for stating that farmers protesting outside Westminster "did not look very poor" because of their "shiny tractors", and for suggesting that the Opposition were campaigning against the policy because "they always want to make the rich even richer".

Johnnie Furse, spokesperson for the Countryside Alliance, commented:

"Yet again, the government are showing just how out of touch they are. We have repeatedly seen members of the government attempt to justify the family farm tax with vague claims about how the money raised will be used, and with statements that farmers are rich and can afford it.

"These claims have been proven to be completely hollow. Recent data has shown that the farm tax will cost us money, not raise it, while the record number of farms that have closed since Rachel Reeves's announcement of the policy last Autumn proves that farms simply cannot afford to pay the tax while remaining viable as businesses.

"The government must listen to reason and common sense, and properly reconsider this hugely unpopular, out of touch, and economically unsound policy."

The Countryside Alliance will continue to campaign for the farming community and urge the government to reconsider the Family Farm Tax.