In an effort to pay for policing Labour are going to hit rural communities in a so-called “gun tax” and the Home Office will let forces to increase firearms licences.
The Policing Minister Dame Diana Johnson has said that police forces will be allowed to charge more money for a firearms licence which could end up being a four-fold increase.
The “gun tax” is part of the Labour government’s plan to fund police settlement funding and cold raise £20 million in the process.
The Country Alliance has warned that firearms licences could be increased from £49 and £90 to an eyewatering £400, this will further intensify arguments between the farming community and Labour following the Chancellor’s controversial Autumn Budget which will see inheritance tax on farms increase on agricultural land valued at more than £1 million to 20% IHT.
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The Telegraph reports that in 2023 there was more than 500,000 shotgun licences across England and Wales and are renewed every five years.
Dame Diana said, “Firearms licensing fees have not increased since 2015 and are now significantly less than the cost of the service provided by police forces.
“This funding deficit is impacting the effectiveness of police firearms licensing controls and the crucial role they play in safeguarding the public.
“We therefore intend to lay a statutory instrument, when parliamentary time allows, to increase firearms licensing fees to provide full-cost recovery for police forces, in line with our manifesto commitment.
“The additional revenue raised will be retained by police forces to support the important improvements needed in firearms licensing.”
Tim Bonner, chief executive of the Countryside Alliance told the Telegraph earlier in 2024, “Many of the people who have those licences need those licences to carry out their jobs. The idea that they can simply be tapped for a few 100 quid here or there is naive. And, frankly, it shows a lack of understanding of the countryside.
“I think there will be anger that they are paying for a system which is patently inefficient. Many people, I think, will think that at least in part this is because there is a prejudice that some in the Labour Party have against gun ownership as a whole.”
Bonner added, “And we’ve seen that in the past, and certainly there are significant voices in the Labour Party who are campaigning to make gun ownership more difficult, to reduce gun ownership in the UK anyway.
“And I think some of us would think that at least part of this is about a wider attack on gun ownership.”
