Sir James Dyson has blasted Labour’s “spiteful” politics after chancellor Rachel Reeves raised taxes on school fees and multimillion-pound estates.
The Dyson entrepreneur became the latest landowner to hit out at moves to cut agricultural property relief (APR), which is designed to help farmers pass land on but has increasingly been used by the wealthy to avoid inheritance tax.
Dyson is reputed to own 36,000 acres of farmland in Lincolnshire and Somerset.
Ahead of the Budget, a former Conservative cabinet minister who was tipped off about the raid said Dyson has put a lot of his wealth into such schemes, and will likely be fuming at Labour’s plans.
“He thought we were doing a lousy job, so I would like to be a fly on his wall when he hears about the budget.”
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His suspicions proved to be spot on, with Dyson telling The Times that Labour’s moves to raise inheritance tax on farms and family businesses will be the “death of entrepreneurship”.
He accused the chancellor of “spiteful” politics after Labour raised taxes on school fees and multimillion-pound estates.
Reeves has denied that Labour’s first budget in 14 years was ideological after she tightened inheritance tax relief on business property, meaning that family firms handing down assets over £1 million will be charged 20 per cent from April 2026 — below the standard 40 per cent rate.
The chancellor also introduced a 20 per cent levy on farms worth more than £1 million.
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