More than 16,000 jobs in Scotland could be lost as a result of Labour’s inheritance tax rises on family farms and businesses, new research has shown.
The changes, set to come into effect in April 2026, are also projected to wipe hundreds of millions of pounds from Scotland’s economy.
CLA, which represents farmers and rural businesses, conducted a survey of more than 4,000 organisations and farms on the impact of Labour’s proposed inheritance tax changes at a constituency level.
It found that 16,006 jobs could be lost across Scotland from Keir Starmer’s family farm and business tax. These include thousands of jobs in regions such as the North East and the Borders.
On Wednesday at PMQs, Keir Starmer refused to reverse his family farm tax after being questioned by Gordon and Buchan MP Harriet Cross, despite making three other U-turns in recent weeks.
Following the revelation of the potential job losses across Scotland, she said: “These figures illustrate the devastating impact that Labour’s family farm and business tax will have on jobs, industries and Scotland’s economy.
“Mounting evidence shows these tax rises will cripple farms and family businesses, both across my constituency and the rest of Scotland.
“For the agricultural sector, Labour’s family farm tax is the definition of economic suicide that will threaten livelihoods and our future food security.
“At the immediate heart of this are our elderly farmers, who want, and had always planned, to keep their farms until death to pass them on to the next generation.
“Instead, they are now left knowing if they live beyond April 2026 when the measures come in, their children may have to break up or sell the farm to pay the inheritance tax bill that they have not been given sufficient time to plan for.
“Rather than recognising this harm and u-turning on his cruel family farm tax, Keir Starmer is more interested in empty rhetoric in the hope that farmers will eventually forget and move on.
“The truth is they cannot and will not forget, which is why, alongside farmers and family businesses, both I and my Conservative party colleagues will be fighting to the very end to force Keir Starmer into reversing this deeply damaging policy once and for all.”
