The BBC’s fact-checking service has come under scrutiny after it deleted a statement backing Labour’s claims in their inheritance tax raid on farmers.

BBC Verify said the Government’s figures about the number of farms affected by the policy were “likely” to be right.

But the corporation has since deleted its backing of the claim that only 500 farms a year will be affected by the policy from its website amid a bias row after Sir Keir Starmer trumpeted the BBC piece.

Shadow culture secretary Stuart Andrew told the Daily Mail: “Taxpayers pay for the BBC to interrogate facts, not mindlessly parrot Government lines.

“These are highly contested statistics on a policy which may have a profound impact on prices in the shops, Britain’s food security and rural life.

“Farmers deserve better than the diet of half-truths they are currently being fed by the BBC. The matter should be immediately investigated and corrected.”

The Government has faced a fierce backlash over restricting the existing 100% inheritance tax relief for farms to only the first £1 million of combined agricultural and business property.

BBC Verify said the Country Land and Business Association’s 70,000 figure for the number of farms affected was “almost certainly an overestimate”.

The service added that the “true” number of farms affected “is likely to be much closer to the Treasury estimates”.

The BBC said: “This is an independent factual analysis, quoting a number of different organisations and individuals who have a range of different viewpoints.

“It’s routine for us to update online articles, and we’ll continue to update our analysis of this policy as more information and explanation become available.

“If the changes are material or change our conclusions, we add a note informing readers, for transparency.”