The government’s announcement, just before Christmas (23 December 2025), that it will be making partial changes to its hated Family Farm Tax was welcome news to many in the farming sector.

The changes – raising the threshold for Agricultural Property and Business Property relief from £1m to £2.5m –  are "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.

That said, the changes come as something of 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.

From the day Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced the controversial policy back in her Budget of Autumn 2024, the Countryside Alliance has fiercely campaigned against the tax, warning of the huge damage it would cause to family farms, rural communities, and the nation’s food security.

As part of our efforts to get Ms Reeves to reconsider, the Countryside Alliance lobbied the government, cross-party MPs, and launched a campaign with councils across the country to fight the tax and urge a reversal of the policy, with over 40 major local councils joining us in the struggle.

Our spokespeople were interviewed on television and radio throughout the year, and we worked closely with every major newspaper to keep up the pressure, appearing in print on hundreds of occasions. We were also proud to stand alongside farmers at various demonstrations across the country, including in London, Oxford and Liverpool.

But despite the enormous criticism and mass protests that the government was faced with, they doubled down, 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.

Even 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 the Animal Welfare Strategy and its planned ban on trail hunting, announced just the day before the changes to the Family Farm Tax.

While the changes are welcome, it remains the case that they do little to undo the huge financial and mental health costs that the policy has already had on many farmers.

With recent polling revealing that 2 in 3 voters believe the government is unfairly neglecting people who live in the countryside, 2026 will be a crucial year for the government if it hopes to mend its relationship with rural communities.

If the government wishes to prove that it does care about people living in the countryside, then it urgently needs to start legislating for rural communities and not against them.