Minette Batters solves the Inheritance Tax question, how to buy your own rollercoaster, and why the French are furious about chocolate fingers

A fair solution for farmers?

The reaction to the Autumn Budget, in farming circles, has ranged from the sublime to the ridiculous. Many have pointed out that the removal of Agricultural Property Relief is likely to cause issues to small family farms, which will now have to undergo a series of difficult estate planning conversations to avoid being stung by HMRC. On the other end of the scale, and all too predictably, Jeremy Clarkson accused the Labour Party of attempting to ‘ethnically cleanse the countryside of farmers’. 

Of course, Labour and many others have pointed out that APR was being abused by extremely wealthy people to avoid paying Inheritance Tax, thus driving up the price of farmland, which in turn also damages small farms. Naturally Mr Clarkson admitted to doing precisely this in an interview with the Times in 2021.

No doubt both sides have a point (although for the record, the accusation of ‘ethnic cleansing’ by Mr Clarkson is frankly absurd). People are buying farmland to avoid paying taxes, and small farmers are now having to jump through significant hoops to avoid their estates being broken up when they die. 

The solution, according to Minette Batters in today’s Country Life, is simple. Test people. Proper farmers should not have to pay IHT and those buying land for tax-avoidance purposes should. Simples.

‘The Government knows exactly who’s farming and who’s not,’ she writes. ‘If the Government wants to separate lifestyle farmers from family-run farms, they could easily develop their own active farmer test, given the huge level of compliance and record keeping that is needed to produce food.’

Farmers have long bemoaned the endless book keeping and form filling that the state requires of them. Perhaps, finally, it can have some use. Perhaps this bureaucracy can save the family farm. Perhaps it will force those who own large tracts of land purely to dodge HMRC will be forced to do the thing everyone wants: produce food. It’s certainly the best solution we’ve heard so far.

Quiz of the day

1) Which British band named its fourth album Country Life?

2) The area around Sloane Square in London was formerly known as what ‘Town’?

3) What was Sir Alfred J. Munnings’s middle name?

4) Winter Density is a type of which vegetable?

5) Chatsworth House in Derbyshire is next to which river?

Où sont les doigts en chocolat?

The French are up in arms or, at least, fingers, as it was revealed that the Cadbury chocolate finger has disappeared from supermarkets across the Channel.

‘Give us back our finger,’ ran the deliciously French headline of the Ouest France, the country’s largest selling newspaper. ‘Betrayal’, wailed Le Monde. ‘Cadbury Fingers have disappeared from French shops and nobody told us’, hissed the national daily Libération. 

You might, reasonably, be asking why Cadbury has chosen to stop sending them abroad. The answer is, nobody really knows. Mondelez International, which owns Cadbury, blamed ‘an intermediary distributor’. Another distributor blamed Mondelez International. All we know is that on the black market, boxes of Cadbury Fingers are now trading hands for £45 a box. And that the chocolates have been off the shelves in France since May.

The French, surprisingly, are fighting back. A petition, which has just over 1,200 signatures at the time of writing, is calling on Mondelez to return the fingers to France. ‘Cadbury Fingers were taken from us in May 2024,’ it says. ‘These delicious chocolate-covered biscuits were more than just snacks to us, they were a tradition and a symbol of shared moment and enjoyment… We value these little treats and that’s why we’re asking Mondelez to acknowledge our collective voice and restart production of Cadbury Fingers.’

Sensational Scotland

I spent most of the afternoon trawling the internet for the best Scottish castles that you can buy (or dream of buying). Some absolute beauties in this list, and something for everyone I think.

The very hungry rollercoaster

We try not to dish out too much health and safety advice at Country Life, as we are staunch believers in allowing people, especially our readers, to make their own decisions. However, we feel it’s imperative to mention that you should never, absolutely under no circumstances, buy a rollercoaster off the internet.

Yes you read that correctly. It would seem that on the website AliExpress, you can, for the princely sum of £16,548.79, buy a ‘mini roller coaster fruit worm track train’. It will arrive by November 30, should you be interested, and shipping is free. It is also currently 40% off. Phew.

You might be thinking: ‘hey, why do I know the name AliExpress’. And the answer is that it was the firm that paid for a significant number of adverts during the summer’s European Football Championships. Indeed, its brand ambassador is none other than Country Life reader David Beckham. Perhaps he could purchase the rollercoaster and let us know if it’s legitimate or not? He needn’t worry, as the website guarantees a refund if the package (a rollercoaster) is lost, damaged or not delivered in 35 days.

How to get into nature, every day of every month

If it's all got a bit much, perhaps it's time to take a step outside. Joining me on the podcast this week was Professor Miles Richardson. What Prof Richardson has spent the majority of his career doing is quite remarkable: taking what we all know (that nature is good for the mind and the soul) and proving it with cold hard science. He also has a new book out, titled The Blackbird's Song & Other Wonders of Nature: A Year-Round Guide to Connecting with the Natural World, which you should take a peek at. Listen to the podcast here.

That's all for today, we'll be back tomorrow

Quiz answers

1) Roxy Music

2) Hans Town

3) James

4) Lettuce

5) River Derwent