Writing in this week's (December 4th) Bromsgrove Advertiser, Bradley said:
“Today in Parliament Conservatives will be forcing a major Parliamentary vote in an effort to overturn the Government’s vindictive Family Farm Tax.
Despite the Prime Minister and Environment Secretary previously promising to protect farmers, under Government proposals, more than 100,000 farms across the country, including 249 here in Bromsgrove and the Villages, will be hit by new inheritance tax laws.
They will be devastating for family farms and pose a serious risk to our domestic food security and food prices. This will also do untold damage to our countryside which is looked after so carefully by our farmers.
Today’s Opposition Day Debate will discuss the Family Farm Tax and give all MPs the chance to say no to the Government’s cruel plans.
Having heard the first hand testimonies of local farmers who will be hit by this new tax, I will be voting against this Government’s political choice to target our farmers. Their plans are a cruel blow to those who have farmed for generations and will affect workers and consumers across the country.
This includes Ollie, a young local farmer from our area, who joined other local farmers at their huge protest in Westminster two weeks ago where I stood side by side with those who put food on our tables.
No one can come away from those meetings under any illusions about the devasting impact this new policy will have on farming. If the Chancellor and the Environment Secretary are hearing the same stories as I am, that’s if they can be bothered to meet with farmers, then they would immediately u-turn on this policy.
I hope today MPs reject the Government’s plans and help protect hundreds of thousands of farmers, their families and communities.
I am sure people here in Bromsgrove and the Villages and across the country will never forgive the Government if they destroy the farming industry as this tax will ultimately do.”
