An Oxfordshire MP is set to meet with the local farming community amid family farm tax concerns. 

Calum Miller, the MP for Bicester and Woodstock, will today (November 19) meet with more of his constituents to discuss issues impacting rural communities.

This comes as thousands of farmers head to Westminster to air their concerns over the impact the Budget will have on family farms. 

There are concerns that breaking up family farms would make production even less affordable and would put national food security at risk.

Farmers from Bicester and Woodstock have raised their concerns about the impact of the family farm tax with Mr Miller.

The tax is said to have an impact on the 293 farms in the constituency.

The MP has been discussing the impact these taxes would have on communities in Bicester and Woodstock, and is urging the government to axe the family farm tax. 

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Mr Miller spoke to farmers in Bicester and Woodstock the day after the Budget and has since been in touch with a number of family farms to understand how the proposed change would affect them.

They told him that they aren't making enough to pay for a 20 per cent tax bill so would have to sell part of the farm to settle an inheritance bill.

Latest statistics reveal that in 2023/24, average Farm Business Income was lower for all farm types except for specialist pig farms. 

The government has also decided to accelerate the phase out of direct payments to farmers under the basic payment scheme, meaning all recipients will see the base amount of their payments cut by 76 per cent next year.

A stock image of a farmer at work Mr Miller has called for the government to "urgently review this".

The Liberal Democrats are also calling for an additional £1 billion a year in support for farmers.

The Liberal Democrat MP said: “Family farmers across Bicester, Woodstock and Kidlington have already been failed by a Conservative party that didn’t care about them - they can’t now be let down by a Labour government that doesn’t understand them. 

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“Liberal Democrats are standing up for rural communities, and calling for an axe to the family farm tax that would be disastrous for farmers across Bicester and Woodstock.

“British farmers are already battling with sky-high energy bills and botched overseas trade deals, and this hike will only make things much worse.

"Labour could have raised tax elsewhere, like reversing the Tories' bankers' tax cut.

"I am urging the Government to change course.”

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