Budget Must Deliver Fairness for Families, Farmers and our Small Businesses

Ahead of Wednesday’s Autumn Budget, Robin Swann MP has again warned that the proposed Family Farm Tax poses a “deeply damaging and utterly unacceptable threat” to the future of family-run farms in Northern Ireland.

Robin Swann MP said:

“As I have made clear time and time again, the Family Farm Tax is a direct threat to the survival of family farms in Northern Ireland. These farms are not large commercial businesses - they are family farms, passed down through generations and which sustain our rural communities.

“This tax would punish families who simply want to pass their land from one generation to the next. It would undermine succession planning, destabilise family businesses and could force many families out of farming for good. This proposal must be withdrawn.”

Swann said that the Chancellor must demonstrate that she understands the unique pressures already facing Northern Ireland’s farmers including rising input costs and post-Brexit trading arrangements.

Alongside the urgent call to scrap the Family Farm Tax, the Ulster Unionist MP set out a series of other key measures the Ulster Unionist Party hopes to see addressed in the Budget.

Mr Swann highlighted that his party wants to see the two-child limit on Universal Credit scrapped, a policy he argues has pushed too many low-income families to breaking point; a reduction in Corporation Tax to counter the widening competitive divergence facing Northern Ireland businesses; duty-free parity for airports across the UK, ensuring that Northern Ireland airports such as Belfast International Airport can compete fairly; a reduction in Hospitality VAT, with Northern Ireland used as a pilot scheme to support a sector that is vital to jobs and tourism; and guarantees that working families will be protected from further tax increases at a time when household budgets are already under immense pressure.

He added: “The Ulster Unionist Party has been clear about what Northern Ireland needs from this Budget. We want to see practical measures that offer fairness to working families, support to businesses and bring relief to sectors under real strain.”