Sir Keir Starmer has relied on “two blokes with a cup of tea and a calculator” at BBC Verify to back up his figures over the inheritance tax raid on farmers, the head of the Country Land and Business Association (CLA) has said.
Earlier this week, the Prime Minister insisted that most farmers would be unaffected by the policy, which will make farms worth more than £1 million eligible for inheritance tax.
He said: “All of you can check out what that means in terms of the impact. I think the BBC has already done it.”
But speaking at the CLA’s annual conference on Thursday, Victoria Vyvyan said the “stupid row” over the number of farmers was a distraction, adding: “The Prime Minister is reduced to claiming that his numbers are backed up by BBC Verify, two blokes with a cup of tea and a calculator.
“This Prime Minister has got a Treasury to rely on. He doesn’t need BBC Verify to back him up. That is not a Treasury in which I have the greatest confidence, frankly, if it needs that support.”
The CLA has said the 20 per cent tax on estates worth more than £1 million would affect 70,000 farms. It claims that in the Treasury’s own figures, 20,000 farms would be affected over a generation. The Government claims only 550 farms a year will be affected by the policy.
Speaking at the conference, Steve Reed, the Environment Secretary, said the Treasury’s figures were based on “hard data, for actual claims for the relief”.
His comments come after it emerged that BBC Verify had used a Labour party activist to back the Government’s claims on the policy. The BBC’s fact-checking service quoted Dan Neidle as an “independent tax expert” in a piece assessing the number of British farms that would be affected.
Mr Neidle, a City lawyer, made headlines last year when he pursued Nadhim Zahawi – then Conservative Party chairman – over his tax affairs.
When asked how many farms would be affected by the Budget tax rises, he sided with the Treasury’s low estimate.
The BBC story said: “Dan Neidle, an independent tax expert, says the number of actual farms affected is likely to be below 500 per year.” He has since dismissed the CLA’s much higher estimate on X, formerly Twitter, as “hyperbolic fake stats”.
The BBC Verify piece has since been amended, with Mr Neidle’s “below 500 per year” claim removed and his title amended to “founder of the independent Tax Policy Associates”.
More than 10,000 farmers took to the streets of London to demonstrate against the tax raid on Tuesday. Protesters – some of whom arrived at Westminster in their tractors – held placards stating “no farmers, no food, no future” as they called on the Government to reverse its plans.
Among the crowd was Jeremy Clarkson, the television presenter turned farmer, who claimed 96 per cent of the country’s farmers would be affected in a clash with Victoria Derbyshire, the BBC journalist.
He also delivered a speech in which he described October’s Budget and subsequent inheritance tax raid as a “knee in the nuts” for farmers.
Some Labour MPs have since raised concerns about the plans, urging the Government to rethink them in order to protect family farms. Sir Keir has continued to insist that the “vast majority” of farmers will not be affected.
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