SAQIB BHATTI: Rachel Reeves’ Budget is a grasping assault on Britain’s beloved heritage and historical past
Rachel Reeves’ Budget is a greedy assault on Britain’s beloved heritage and history.
Over this Christmas period, thousands of families up and down the country will visit one of the UK’s historic houses.
However, as analysis from Historic Houses shows, these great symbols of our countryside are now under threat from Reeves’ damaging socialist Budget.
Our stately homes are deeply intertwined with our country’s great heritage; they bolster our food security; and they attract millions of people each year.
But in an act of shameless ineptitude, the Chancellor’s Budget is putting all this at risk.
The future looks bleak for some of our most famous and historic homes and may mean they have to close depriving the British public of their right to enjoy these wonderful examples of culture and heritage.
Historic Houses, who represent hundreds of these properties, have conducted a survey with terrifying that paint a bleak picture for our stately homes.
Over half of respondents say they won’t be able to diversify their business because of changes to inheritance tax.
Rachel Reeves delivered a massive £40billion ‘tax bomb’ Budget back in October
Analysis from Historic Houses shows that historic homes are under threat from Reeves’ Budget
Strikingly, 41 per cent of respondents say they will have to make redundancies or freeze hiring new staff.
This could have a catastrophic impact on local economies, especially in rural areas.
They host weddings and help our children learn about the great history of our nation.
As a result, these stately homes often offer great work opportunities for people in the countryside.
From maintaining the properties, to working in their cafes or tending the land, the Chancellor’s needles tax raid could put thousands of these jobs at risk.
But this also represents a shocking act of vandalism on our country’s great history.
While we know this Government are intent on destroying our history with reparations and the continued malaise of history in our schools, this assault on our heritage is still shocking and hurtful.
Stately homes allow everyone to take in some of the finest art and architecture that play such an important role in our national story.
Saqib Bhatti (pictured) is the Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport
If the Chancellor goes through with this horrifying attack on Britain’s culture, our children won’t be able to enjoy one of the country’s favourite days out: a trip to a stately home.
That means children will no longer be able to learn about Britain’s extraordinary national story and will instead be led further down the slippery slope of believing Britain has only ever been a force for evil in the world.
I am deeply proud of our country and its heritage; it is unsurpassed and we can get a feel for it like no other in our great stately homes.
Millions of people visit them each year so that they too can learn about our glorious history. This is a blatant political choice by a left-wing Labour Government that have no care for our history.
They are driven by wild socialist ambitions to dismantle everything that made Britain great. Their war on Downton Abbey is economically illiterate and threatens our history.
They came for our farmers, they came for our pensioners and now they are setting-out to destroy our heritage by demolishing our stately homes, loved by so many.
Britain stately homes exemplify what makes our country great.
We must protect them.
Saqib Bhatti MP is the Shadow Minister for Culture, Media and Sport
