Overview
- Ministers have committed to banning trail hunting, with a consultation set for early 2026 on how to implement the prohibition.
- Tens of thousands are expected at traditional meets on Boxing Day as the Countryside Alliance rallies support.
- ORB polling indicates 65% of voters say rural communities are unfairly neglected, with 76% perceiving urban issues take priority.
- The government partially reversed farm inheritance tax plans by raising the individual threshold to £2.5 million, lifting the tax-free allowance for couples to £5 million.
- ONS figures show a record 6,270 agriculture, forestry and fishing businesses closed in the year to October.