Finance (No. 2) Bill Report Stage: Amendment 6

Parliament rejected a Conservative amendment to the Finance (No. 2) Bill on 11 March 2026 that would have scrapped the government's reforms to Agricultural Property Relief (APR), the inheritance tax exemption that applies to farmland. The amendment, Division 448, was defeated by 292 votes to 175. APR reforms, announced in the Autumn Budget, cap the full inheritance tax exemption on agricultural property, meaning larger farm estates will face tax bills on transfers at death that previously would have been exempt entirely. The vote means the government's APR changes remain in the Finance (No. 2) Bill and will proceed toward becoming law. The reforms affect landowners whose agricultural property exceeds the threshold at which full relief applies. The government argues the change targets only the highest-value estates and is needed to repair public finances, while opponents contend that farmland values bear little relation to farm profitability, leaving cash-poor agricultural businesses unable to meet inheritance tax bills without selling land or assets. The vote divided sharply along party lines. All 255 voting Labour MPs and 31 Labour and Co-operative MPs voted no. The 95 voting Conservatives were joined in the aye lobby by all 53 voting Liberal Democrats, all 8 voting Reform UK members, all 7 voting SNP members, all 4 voting Plaid Cymru members, and 2 Democratic Unionist Party members, forming a broad cross-party opposition to the government's position. The Greens backed the government, with 4 voting no. No Conservative or Liberal Democrat voted with the government.