My Conservative colleagues and I are proud to be standing up for farmers today – Victoria Atkins (Image: Andrew Matthews/PA Wire)
Today, Labour MPs have an opportunity to do the right thing. They can stand up for their local farmers and the future of British farming, or they can suck up to and Rachel Reeves.
Running a farming business is tough. With factors like the weather and disease outbreaks far beyond anyone’s control, it is risky. But farmers have now had the rug pulled out from beneath them by the Government.
This week, we have seen vital investment support grants pulled. Having complained about a supposed underspend in Defra, Labour apparently can’t find the money to pay farmers the funding they were promised that will allow them to invest in our countryside.
That’s on top of the national insurance hike, and the accelerated decrease in farming payments. Several tenant farmers have told me that they don’t know how they’ll even pay their rent next year.
And then there is the inheritance tax. Changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief will see farmers facing inheritance tax bills on hundreds of thousands – or even millions – of pounds. They will be forced to sell their farms to pay this tax, with no guarantee that it will continue to be used for food production.
There are the most heart wrenching of conversations happening around kitchen tables up and down the country.
One farmer, whose farm is worth £8 million on paper, made just £20,000 last year. If their father – in his eighties – passes away after Labour’s changes to inheritance tax come into force, they are looking at a tax bill of £1.2 million. It simply isn’t affordable. The father has asked if his continuing to live beyond March 2026 when this tax comes in is a burden to his family.
It is morally reprehensible that Labour’s policies are resulting in these conversations having to take place.
This is an issue that everyone – in urban and rural areas – should be deeply concerned about. Hurting British farming will damage all of us; if you care about buying quality food at reasonable prices, this affects you. If you are about the careful stewardship of our countryside, this affects you.
My Conservative colleagues and I are proud to be standing up for farmers today; I urge Labour MPs to do the same.