Ministers raise inheritance tax threshold for farms after backlash

U-turn lifts limit from £1m to £2.5m after protests and warnings that family farms were at risk

Ministers will increase the threshold for taxing inherited farmland from £1m to £2.5m after months of pressure from campaigners and MPs representing rural areas.

In a statement slipped out just before Christmas, the environment department announced the U-turn which will apply from April when the tax is due to kick in.