Alison Hume

I will just make some progress, thank you. I started my speech with children at the start of their lives, and I end it with people coming towards the end of their lives. I owe it to the farming families who I represent to raise my concerns about the anti-forestalling clause in the Bill. That measure means that any elderly or terminally ill farmer who transfers their ownership of their farm to a descendant, but dies within seven years, will be liable to pay inheritance tax under the new system. If they do not live seven years after the gift, that could also trigger capital gains tax. If a farmer does not make a transfer but dies before April 2026, the agricultural estate will pass inheritance tax free. I have met several families in Scarborough and Whitby who told me that they are having heartbreaking conversations with their parents, who talk about ending their own lives before April next year. I ask my hon. Friends in the Treasury to please look at removing the anti-forestalling clause from the Bill, or at the very least introducing a transition to protect the most elderly, and those with a terminal medical diagnosis. We have shown before that we can listen and amend our policies; please can we listen again? It is my hope that we can show the same compassion for our farmers in the winter of their lives as we have for our children in the spring of theirs.