Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
has come under fire after stopping applications to a green farming scheme. The Government announced that it would not accept new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) from today.
The programme, which was introduced after , pays farmers to manage their land in an environmentally friendly way. The Government said it would set out details of a new scheme following the spending review later this year. But the move has sparked fresh criticism amid ongoing fury at the inheritance tax raid on farmers.
Don’t miss…
Country Land and Business Association president Victoria Vyvyan said: “SFI was the most ambitious, forward thinking and environmentally friendly agricultural policy seen anywhere in the world – it promised a fairer future for farmers and a greener future for the world.
“Labour promised to support it, but at the first available opportunity they have instead scrapped it.
“Of all the betrayals so far, this is the most cruel. It actively harms nature. It actively harms the environment.
“And, with war once again raging in Europe, to actively harm our food production is reckless beyond belief.”
James Wright, farmer and policy director at Conservative Rural Forum, added: :SFI was the best of both worlds. Supporting food production, the environment and farm incomes.
“Labour withdrawing the scheme with no notice shows the complete contempt they farm for farmers and the countryside.”
Farming YouTuber Olly Harrison, who has organised major protests against the controversial inheritance tax changes, said in a video on X: “What is going on?
“We’re getting attacked from every single angle, it’s just absolutely bonkers.
“Why have we got people who don’t understand farming and don’t understand the environment in power in power? Why don’t they get out on farms and learn how agriculture works?”
The Government said it inherited an uncapped scheme and that the highest ever level of participation in SFI means the maximum limit has now been reached.
Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs Daniel Zeichner said: “This Government is proud to have set the biggest budget for sustainable food produce in history, to boost growth in rural communities and all across the UK, under our Plan for Change.
“More farmers are now in schemes and more money is being spent through them than ever before. That is true today and will remain true tomorrow.
“We have now successfully allocated the SFI24 budget as promised.”