Sir Keir Starmer was told how the plight of a grieving Scottish farming family was made worse by changes to inheritance tax for farmers announced in the budget.

Scottish Conservative MP Harriet Cross described the situation facing her constituent "Sarah" and her relatives to the Prime Minister a week after thousands of farmers demonstrated at Westminster over the levy.

From April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1million, which were previously exempt, will be liable to the tax at 20% - half the usual inheritance tax rate. 

Other allowances could mean a couple who are married or in a civil partnership could pass on a farm worth as much as £3m.

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"Sarah and her family have farmed beef cattle in my constituency for over 70 years and they had always planned for her sister to continue the family legacy," Ms Cross, MP for Gordon and Buchan, told the Commons.

"Earlier this year, Sarah’s mother died suddenly and unexpectedly. She was just 58. Sarah said to me that, despite already having a tragic year, it was made even worse after the budget. 

"She said: 'Changes to agricultural property relief have hit us hard while we’re already struggling to cope with bereavement and losing mum.' 

"What would the Prime Minister say to Sarah and her family in what has been the most difficult year of their lives, in the light of the family farm tax?"

Starmer asked Ms Cross to send her the family's details so he would "have a look at the case". 
He added: "In relation to farming more broadly, as she knows, £5 billion was set aside in the budget over the next two years as an investment in farming. 

"That is the biggest amount that has ever been set aside....The Conservatives actually failed to spend the last farming budget by £300 million. On the question of inheritance of family farms, it is important to bear in mind that in a typical case, which is parents passing to a child, the threshold is £3 million, and that is why, as she knows, the vast majority of farms will be totally unaffected."