Earlier today (23 December), the government announced that it will be making partial changes to the Family Farm Tax.

The changes – raising the threshold for Agricultural Property and Business Property relief from £1m to £2.5m – have been called "a step in the right direction", and come after repeated calls from the Countryside Alliance and other rural campaign groups that the government should rethink the policy.

The announcement comes as a surprise, given the months of unnecessary pain and suffering caused by this policy, and the government's continued insistence that it would not budge on its decision.

It has been a difficult 24 hours for the government, with it’s Animal Welfare Strategy backfiring and it being met with criticism that it risks undercutting British farmers in favour of lower-quality imports.

Since the family farm tax was announced in November last year, the government has faced enormous criticism and mass protests, with farmers descending on Whitehall from all over the country. Over the past year, the government doubled down on it, and it seemed like there was little chance of a change in position, with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer claiming that voters could choose between a stable NHS or inheritance tax breaks for farmers.

Just a few weeks ago, the vast majority of Labour MPs voted for the budget motion on inheritance tax for farmers. Some abstained, and the one Labour MP who bravely voted against it (Markus Campbell-Savours, Penrith and Solway) had the party whip removed.

Fortunately, the government has finally listened to rural people and made partial changes to the controversial policy. The move comes as the government has come under fire for a succession of anti-rural policies, culminating with yesterday's Animal Welfare Strategy and its planned ban on trail hunting, that many see as direct attacks on rural communities.

With further government policies and plans threatening the future of village pubs, limiting shotgun ownership and banning trail hunting – all of which will devastate the rural economy – it is clear why there is the growing perception that the government is picking a war with the countryside.

Commenting on the development, Mo Metcalf-Fisher, Director of External Affairs at the Countryside Alliance, said:

“This partial change to the disastrous family farm tax is welcome. It has caused months of unnecessary pain and suffering. It’s clear the government has realised that the growing perception that it is at war with the countryside is toxic. We hope that the government will learn the fundamental lesson of this policy debacle - which is that it needs to work with the rural community, not legislate against it. The government has a very long way to go to rebuild trust, but we are hopeful that this is the first step of many in restoring some semblance of a relationship between government and countryside.”