Britain is in a Food and Farming Emergency. Food prices are continuing to rise, with food inflation hitting 4.9% last month. There have been record numbers of farm closures in the last 12 months, with even more on the way. Worryingly, more than half of farmers are now considering leaving the industry.
Much of this is as a result of Labour’s terrible decisions. The closure of the farming and environmental support scheme, the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), without any warning, was followed by the phasing out of the basic payment scheme much quicker than expected. Taken together, these cancellations have meant that many farms are facing cashflow crises and cannot plan for the next 12 months, let alone the next few years of a crop rotation or expanding a herd. Added to this, Chancellor Rachel Reeves’ decision to increase employers’ National Insurance contributions – the Jobs Tax – has added to other labour costs, and means that farms are now laying off workers, adding to unemployment numbers that have grown every month under Labour.
Most perniciously, the cruel Family Farm Tax and Family Business Tax have had a devastating impact on families’ plans for the future. The Conservative Party has been clear that we will axe these taxes when we are back in government. We have set out a funded plan to do so because we understand that they will hit asset-rich but cash-poor farmers, on incomes of as little as £20,000 a year, with inheritance tax bills of £1 million. How on earth are families supposed to afford such high costs without closing down and selling up?
The Family Farm Tax and Family Business Tax haven’t yet come into force, but they are already stopping business investment. The human costs are even worse. There have been reports of farmers taking their own lives out of fear that their families will not be able to afford the tax when it comes in, others are refusing cancer treatment. Farming communities have told us these fears are only going to grow as the tax deadline of April 2026 approaches.
It is in this context that the Conservatives hosted a Food and Farming Emergency Summit last week with 100 farmers, fishermen, and food producers on a farm in Buckinghamshire. Instead of simply telling them what we wanted to do, we asked them a straight-forward question: what are the urgent measures the Government should take to help you survive the next 12 months?
We told those gathered that we would set party politics aside, act in the national interest, and work with the government to implement them. We will do this because we can see how urgent the need is.
We have set out a savings plan which would allow the Government to reverse the Family Farm and Family Business Tax. The other measures that emerged from our summit could be funded from within existing budgets. All the measures are reasonable, deliverable, and they can be executed at speed by the Government.
Stop the changes to Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief announced in the last Budget. It is stopping investment, closing farms and causing families severe anxiety. No tax is worth this. We will axe these taxes when back in government.
Open the Government’s promised and long-delayed SFI scheme urgently. Businesses need the cashflow and certainty of these schemes to know what to sow or what to take out in the coming months.
Immediately rollover the Fruit and Vegetable Aid Scheme for another year. To avoid another cliff edge next Christmas for our horticulture sector, details of the replacement scheme must also be published swiftly.
Stop livestock starving by ensuring adequate forage supply this winter. The second-worst harvest on record means livestock farmers are concerned about the supply of forage this Christmas. The Government must ensure contingency measures are in place to support individual farmers if required.
Conduct a rapid review of the new Extended Producer Responsibility packaging taxes on the food, drink, and hospitality sectors. This must include addressing the double charging of pubs.
The overriding message from the summit was simple and clear: the Government must stop flailing around, cancelling longstanding business plans on a whim, and provide certainty to business.
The Conservatives recognise the emergency facing the countryside, and the risk that poses to future food security. We will always back our farmers and our food producers and make sure their voices are heard in Parliament, because we know a stronger countryside means a stronger country.
