More than 400 jobs in Ealing could be lost under government plans to reform inheritance tax reliefs, prompting warnings that Labour risks undermining its own promises on growth and investment.
Analysis by Family Business UK (FBUK) suggests that changes to Business Property Relief (BPR) and Agricultural Property Relief (APR) – due to take effect in April 2026 – could cost 430 local jobs and wipe £49 million from Ealing’s economy across its seven towns.
The measures, which would cap the amount of relief available to family-owned firms, are already published in draft legislation. Business leaders say next month’s Autumn Budget is the government’s last realistic opportunity to reverse course before the plans become law.
The warning is politically sensitive for Ealing North’s MP, James Murray, who as a Treasury minister is directly involved in implementing the reforms. Nationally, FBUK estimates the policy could remove £14.8 billion from the economy and put 200,000 jobs at risk – particularly in construction, where family ownership is widespread and margins are tight.
Steven Mulholland, chief executive of the Construction Plant-hire Association, said: “These aren’t just numbers on a balance sheet. They threaten real jobs, real businesses, and the infrastructure supply chains the UK depends on.
“If Labour is serious about going for growth and delivering 1.5 million homes, it must back the family-run firms doing the heavy lifting.”
In response, a spokesperson for James Murray said the government believed the reforms struck “the right balance between supporting farms and businesses, and fixing the public finances”.
They added: “Despite a tough fiscal context, the government will maintain very significant levels of relief from inheritance tax beyond what is available to others and compared to the position before 1992.”
