Sir James Dyson has accused Rachel Reeves of 'spiteful' politics after Labour raised taxes on school fees and multi-million pound estates.

The 77-year-old businessman hit out at the chancellor of an "ignorant swipe at aspiration" by restricting inheritance tax relief on business property and taxing farmland.

Family firms handing down assets over £1million will be now charged 20% from April 2026.

Ms Reeves also introduced a 20% levy on farms worth more than £1million but denied that Labour's first budget was ideological.

Mr Dyson, who is reputed to own over 30,000 acres of farmland said: “Rachel Reeves is killing off established family businesses, and any incentive to start new ones, with her 20 per cent Family Death Tax, levied each time a family business passes a generation."

“Every business expects to pay tax, but for Labour to kill off homegrown family businesses is a tragedy. In particular, I have huge empathy for the small businesses and start-ups that will suffer.

"Labour has shown its true colours with a spiteful budget.”

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