Fourth-generation farmer Bizza Walters warns of unaffordable tax bill

Fourth-generation farmer Bizza Walters said there is "no way" her family could afford the tax bill if her father and uncles passed down their 500-acre farm to her and her cousins.

The freelance presenter from Warwickshire, 26, warned that youngsters will start to look for alternative careers away from farming, like herself, further threatening the UK's future food security.

She said: "We all want to keep it in the family, the cousins, and if we can come up with a way to do that then that would be great but then equally we don't want to be lumped with a tax bill like that because we just can't afford to pay that."

On listening to the Budget with her dad, Ms Walters said: "We both just looked at each other and thought: 'Oh my god this is just going to cripple our industry."

Bizza added: "I want to be working full-time on the farm because it's what I love and it's the industry I want to be in but actually I'm quite glad I've got an alternative career now," she said. "It's really sad because it's what I want to do. I've grown up here... I'm fourth generation."

On the new Labour Government, she said: "I think if they understood our industry they would've taken a bit more time to talk to us and find out what we wanted, what we needed instead of completely shafting us with this."

Bizza believes food prices "will rocket" if the Government goes ahead with plans to change agricultural property relief (APR) and business property relief (BPR).

She said: "As a young person, the next generation, we need people like myself and those youngsters coming in to keep this industry going," she said. "It's a case of national security, you need food security."

Bizza said farmers "really need to get through to the public that we need their support on this", adding that many are "disconnected" from the source of their food, especially in urban populations.

"We pay our taxes whilst trying to provide food to feed the nation and I think people forget that," she said.

Bizza added: "They don't appreciate that all the subsidies that we have and the (APR relief) until last week was to keep their food prices so low and affordable. And that's why we receive subsidies."

She continued: "If this actually gets passed through and we have to pay this tax, food prices will rocket and they will be sky high because we're price taker, we're not price givers and we can't afford to keep growing food like we are if we're suddenly lumped with these extra costs and the luck of subsidy."

A Government spokesman said: "The government's commitment to our farmers remains steadfast. It's why we have committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years - more money than ever for sustainable food production.

"We understand concerns about changes to Agricultural Property Relief but the majority of those claiming relief will not be affected by these changes. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done.

"This is a fair and balanced approach that protects the family farm while also fixing the public services that we all rely on. We remain committed to working with the NFU and listening to farmers."