Conservatives would abolish Natural England and the Environment Agency in 'common sense' farming policy

Victoria Atkins also spoke about inheritance tax in her speech at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham.

There is a “real chance” to force the Labour government into a full U-turn on its controversial inheritance tax policy on farmers at the Budget, Victoria Atkins has said.

The Shadow Environment Secretary made the comment to The Yorkshire Post at the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham today, as she unveiled the Tory plans for farming and the countryside.

Flanked by cheering supporters and a JCB tractor, Ms Atkins said: “Our rally last year helped force one of Labour's most humiliating U-turns in the last 12 months, working as we have done with farmers across the United Kingdom.

“That humiliating U-turn was their partial U-turn on the family farm and family business taxes.”

In her first budget in 2024, Rachel Reeves announced she was reforming agricultural (APR) and business property relief (BPR), the discount to allow farms and family businesses to be passed down through the generations.

The Chancellor said she was introducing a discounted rate on businesses valued at over £1m, a hugely contentious move that farmers said would force them to sell off land and change the fabric of the British countryside for good.

One inquest revealed that a farmer had taken his own life when worried about the deadline earlier this year. Just before Christmas, the Government announced that it was increasing the threshold to £2.5m, with married couples allowed to combine their relief to £5m.

However, in the Makerfield by-election Andy Burnham indicated he would be willing to look again at the inheritance tax policy.

After her speech, Ms Atkins told this paper that she believes there was a “real chance” to secure change at John Healey’s first Budget at the end of this month.

She said: “My message to this new Labour Prime Minister is he talks about growth in every postcode.

“Well, one way that he can stop growth in every rural postcode of yet more farms closing is to ensure that he axes this vindictive set of taxes completely.

“I think we've got a real chance here in the run-up to the budget. I will never back down from campaigning for this.

“We've got a couple of weeks before the next budget, and I'm going to be doing everything I can in Parliament … to say, look at the damage these taxes have already had on our countryside.

“Not just the economic damage, but the personal damage it has done for many families. Look at that damage, change your ways, listen to rural communities, and axe these vindictive taxes.”

This comes as research from the Country Land and Business Association found that almost 90 per cent of rural family businesses have paused all investment, while some are actively shrinking the value of their firms.

Ms Atkins also announced that the Conservatives would scrap Natural England and the Environment Agency, and bring their responsibilities back into the Environment Department (Defra).

She said: “Accepting the status quo is Labour's choice, but we know there is a better way, bringing back common sense for farming and the rural community.”

Natural England is a public body designed to safeguard nature, while the EA is one of the regulators to protect the environment, clamping down on Yorkshire Water around pollution.

There has been criticism from the agricultural community around overregulation.

Ms Atkins said: “Farmers, landowners, gamekeepers and rural communities gave us real-life examples of how powerless Defra is to effect real change, and how these quangos affect their lives.”

She cited Natural England’s ban on controlled burning on moorland, which land managers say fuels wildfires.

Ms Atkins said the Tories would “look at how we can reform our nature and habitat regulations into one coherent set of laws that actually works for our rural communities and for nature”.