Labour has suspended one of its own MPs after he broke ranks to vote against the party’s contentious inheritance tax changes for farmers, deepening internal divisions over the reforms and fuelling anger in rural communities.
Markus Campbell-Savours, the MP for Penrith and Solway, was the only Labour member to oppose the measure in the Commons on Tuesday night. The proposal – part of the Budget resolutions – passed comfortably by 327 votes to 182, but more than 80 Labour MPs abstained, reflecting widespread discomfort within the party.
Campbell-Savours, who represents one of England’s most rural constituencies, said he could not support changes to agricultural property relief (APR) that he believes will devastate family farms. The reforms introduce a 20 per cent tax on agricultural land and businesses worth more than £1 million, despite earlier assurances from Labour figures that APR would be left untouched.
Speaking during the Budget debate, he warned that many elderly farmers still making arrangements to transfer assets now faced “devastating” consequences.
“I was one of those Labour candidates who reassured farmers that APR would not be touched,” he told MPs. “I want to be able to walk around my community knowing I did all I could for them. I cannot break my word.”
On Wednesday, the Chief Whip Jonathan Reynolds informed him that he had lost the Labour whip, effectively expelling him from the parliamentary party.
Labour sources confirmed the decision, making Campbell-Savours the latest MP to be sidelined for refusing to back the government’s economic programme.
The reforms have sparked furious criticism from farming organisations and rural MPs across the political spectrum. Opponents argue that the majority of farms affected are small, family-run operations – not “wealthy land barons” – and that the reforms do little to curb tax avoidance by celebrities and billionaires buying farmland to shelter wealth.
Senior Conservative MP Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, accused Labour of waging an “assault on farmers and family businesses”.
“Suspending their only MP who dared to vote against their vindictive Family Farm and Business Taxes proves how out of touch they are,” she said. “Only the Conservatives will stand up for rural and agricultural communities.”
In the Budget, the Chancellor sought to soften the blow by allowing unused portions of the £1 million APR and business property relief allowance to be transferred between spouses and civil partners. But the concession has done little to calm farming groups, many of whom had believed the previous shadow Defra team’s public commitment that APR would remain intact.
The reforms were first proposed in last year’s Budget, prompting months of lobbying from the agricultural sector. Despite this, Labour pressed ahead, insisting the changes target wealthy estates while protecting the majority of working farms.
Campbell-Savours’ suspension now places Labour under fresh scrutiny over its relationship with rural voters – a constituency the party has publicly vowed to rebuild trust with since winning the General Election.