Iceland boss and Labour backer Richard Walker has spoken out against the party's inheritance tax proposals on farmers after previously supporting the measure.
Mr Walker criticised the chancellor’s decision to target farmers with higher death duties, suggesting online retailers would be a better source of tax generation for the Treasury.
The government announced a reform of agricultural property relief (APR) in the autumn budget, meaning farms worth more than £1m will incur a 20% inheritance tax charge from 2026.
Mr Walker told The Telegraph : “The Treasury is right to look at levelling the playing field on tax, but it has parked its tractor in the wrong place going after hard-working British farmers.
“Let’s stop messing around and make online sales tax reform the priority. High streets and farmers are the bedrock of this great country, we need to get behind them.”
His comments came just hours after he was criticised for failing to publicly support farmers in the tax row despite concerns raised by almost every other major supermarket.
The new development will likely be seen as a major break with Labour, after he spoke out in support of Chancellor Rachel Reeves numerous times over recent months.
In December, Mr Walker had urged business chiefs to stop 'wallowing' and 'complaining' about higher taxes.
Yesterday (30 January), the campaign group No Farmers, No Food called on him to support farmers, while the Countryside Alliance urged all supermarkets to take a stand 'before it’s too late'.
In a tweet, No Farmers, No Food said: “It’s heartening to see the majority of major supermarkets supporting farmers in their campaign against the government’s inheritance tax on family farms.
"But why haven’t Iceland Foods done the same? It’s time for all our major supermarkets to unite for farmers.”
Retailers including Tesco, Waitrose, Marks & Spencer, Co-op, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons have all spoken out against the IHT changes in recent weeks, demanding an overhaul.
Ashwin Prasad, chief commercial officer of the UK's largest retailer, Tesco, said last month that the planned move would put Britain’s food security at risk.
Speaking about the new development from Iceland, the Countryside Alliance said it welcomed the intervention, as well as other supermarkets for 'taking a stand'.
Mo Metcalf-Fisher, external affairs at the alliance, said: “More and more businesses are rightly opting to stand with farmers.
“Major brands in the wider food and hospitality industry, should be thinking about their supply chains and their long-term ability to meet the growing consumer demand for food and drink produced in this country.
"This won’t happen if we lose family farms and further rely on imports," he said.
The NFU has argued that 75% of farms could be impacted by the IHT changes, with other industry estimates suggesting 2,500 farmers a year will be hit by the overhaul, five times as many as official forecasts.
However, the Treasury argues only 500 estates a year will pay more under the new scheme than they do today.
A major demonstration in opposition to the proposed changes is due to be held in Westminster on 10 February to coincide with a parliamentary debate on the matter.
