Thousands of farm toys donated by members of the National Farmers’ Union were put out on display at their annual conference in Westminster in February to make a point about family farms going out of business by death duties based on land assets.
The toys have now been sent to the Mind mental health charity’s office in Camden Town to help create awareness and raise money for its work supporting people in need of help.
“The toys are being put to good use,” NFU union branch chair Alison Morris said. “They will bring joy to children in London.
“But we also hope they spark an interest in farming and the countryside, especially youngsters who’ve never been to a farm or seen a tractor in real life.”
The Mind shop in Camden Road is slap in the middle of Sir Keir Starmer’s own constituency, a point not lost on Alison, a fifth-generation arable farmer affected by the proposed family farm tax.
The NFU is raising the issue with all political parties to explain why it wants the proposed tax scrapped, claiming it is based on “the wrong figures” and miscalculates the impact of change of ownership.
The levy could force many small and medium family farms out of business, the union says, while major supermarkets have also publicly stated concerns about the threat to national food security.
An alternative has been put forward, worked on with tax experts, which calls for Inheritance Tax to be applied only to qualifying assets if sold off within seven years after death — so that tax is paid only when the finance is available.
This alternative is said to meet the Government’s aims of raising revenue “while avoiding penalising elderly farm owners and breaking up family farms”.
Meanwhile, children are enjoying the toys sent to Mind in Camden while the farmers battle it out with the Government on the land tax controversy.
