The Labour government’s reforms to farmers’ inheritance tax announced in the Autumn Budget has been branded as “Keir Starmer’s Poll Tax”.
William Lees-Jones, who owns and runs Manchester-based JW Lees, which has produced real ale since 1828, added that the Prime Minister is losing the argument and feeling rattled”.
The pubs boss has liked the policy, which has generated several high-profile protests since it was first announced, to the Margaret Thatcher’s Poll Tax which was introduced in 1990 and sped up her departure from Number 10.
Lees-Jones, in a post on LinkedIn, added that he wants is to talk to the Prime Minister about the Business Property Relief (BPR) and Agricultural Property Relief (APR) but that “There’s no engagement and no dialogue”.
Pubs giant boss hits out at Labour
This isn’t the first time that the pubs boss has hit out at the government in recent months.
In November, Lees-Jones said the reforms announced in the Autumn Budget represented an “existential threat” to the future of his seventh-generation pub and brewing giant.
At the time, he warned he is now “facing the very real prospect that we will never be able to hand on the running of my business to our children”.
The managing director added that in the event of his death, his family will “simply not have the cash or liquid assets available to cover an enormous inheritance tax bill”.
The following month, Lees-Jones argued that “we cannot allow the government to destroy family companies” as they are the “bedrock of the UK economy”.
JW Lees is a seventh-generation family business which employs over 1,525 people. It operates 48 managed pubs, inns and hotels and also lets a further 100 pubs.
For its latest financial year, the 12 months to 31 March, 2024, JW Lees posted a revenue of £96.8m, up nine per cent, while its pre-tax profit jumped by 104 per cent to £7.1m.
‘These taxes will literally destroy people’s family farms and family businesses’
In the LinkedIn post, Lees-Jones said: “Keir Starmer’s clearly rattled by the family farm tax protesters and the protests won’t stop.
“All we want to do is to talk to the Prime Minister about the Business Property Relief (BPR) and Agricultural Property Relief (APR). There’s no engagement and no dialogue.
“And it’s been 15 weeks since the Chancellor’s Budget on 30th October. And there is still no detail and no proposal for how the government will consult with family farms and family businesses who between them employ more than 1/4 of all private sector workers.
He added: “No taxes are ever completely fair but when Keir Starmer says, ‘Do they prefer waiting lists to come down, their mortgages to come down, the economy to start working for everyone or do we want to keep a tax break for farmers? You can’t have both’, you can see that he’s losing the argument and feeling rattled.
“No-one would take to the streets in protest or block the Prime Minister’s car in if they did not feel strongly about the taxes.
“These taxes will literally destroy people’s family farms and family businesses.”
Lees-Jones argued that the planned inheritance tax on farmers and family businesses would raise £500m which he said is enough to pay for around 22.5 hours of NHS spending.
He said: “They will make no difference to waiting lists, mortgage rates or the wider economy.
“But it’s still £500m and Rt Hon Rachel Reeves has said on record that she needs to raise £40bn, so it’s 1.2 per cent of the total announced in October, and as the ad says ‘every little helps’ but even Tesco and all the major supermarkets have come out against the taxes.”