Bishop Auckland Constituency Labour Party Taking Pride in Our Communities
As farmers came to Westminster last month, I was disappointed to read criticisms of them on social media that I felt lacked empathy or understanding.
I have the utmost admiration for our farmers across the Gaunless Valley, Teesdale, and Weardale – hardworking people who not only feed the nation but give shape and beauty to our remarkable countryside.
Though I am not a farmer myself, I grew up within smelling distance of the dairy farm from where we bought our milk; some of my good friends are farmers, and a few years ago, I earned a living working outdoors in all weathers as a gardener. So, I know what it means to work with frozen fingers and mud on my boots. However, for our farmers I imagine the physical strain is only part of the daily struggle; the other is the anxiety of having so much invested in such a precarious business and the burden of responsibility to keep the farm alive in an era of shrinking profits.
The challenges facing our farming communities run much deeper than the recent budget. British farming, particularly smaller farms in upland areas, have taken a battering in recent years.
Brexit brought a phased end to the Basic Payment System that gave farmers security in bad years, and badly negotiated trade deals that have put our farmers at a disadvantage to lower-welfare imports; inflation has increased the costs of equipment, fuel, fertiliser, and feed, while climate change and growing rural crime have increased risks of losses.
Because farmers are working people who deserve secure livelihoods, and because I believe food security is essential for our nation’s security, I have committed to holding quarterly forums to partner with our local farmers in turning things around.
These are action-focused meetings with an agenda and time-bound, reportable commitments. The first of these was ten days before the budget, with the next scheduled for February 7.
I also received representatives from the Upper Teesdale Agricultural Support Services (Utass) and the local NFU in parliament, and met 20-odd farmers in Stanhope. While, understandably, some vented their frustration at me about the recent budget, I felt we had a warm and constructive dialogue.
Without denying people’s concerns about plans to reduce Agricultural Property Relief (APR) on Inheritance Tax from 2026, I think the bigger issue for most local farmers – and one the media coverage in recent weeks has failed to really address – is about ensuring a sustainable income for farmers year round.
The new government has set out bold plans to improve farmers’ incomes, including protecting British farmers in trade negotiations; plans to procure at least 50 per cent of food eaten in schools, hospitals and prisons from local farms at fair prices; new measures to tackle rural crime; £200 million to combat animal diseases; £60 million to support farmers affected by recent floods; and the biggest budget ever for sustainable farming – £5 billion of taxpayers’ money set aside to pay farmers for caring for the countyside and nature. But plans don’t pay bills, and it is regrettable that these measures were not in place first, before the government presented the budget.
There were fears that the agricultural budget would be cut because the previous government designed schemes farmers could not access, so failed to get the money out of the door, creating the false impression it was not needed.
I and other rural MPs pressed the Chancellor to maintain the budget, and I am pleased she listened and committed record investment. However, it is now urgent that new schemes are more accessible to grass and upland farmers and on an accelerated timetable to give vital income guarantees to struggling farmers. I will do all I can to push for this.
Finally, I will address the issue of changes to APR, which has dominated the news. Most farmers I speak to agree that the motive behind the change was a good one but disagree with the mechanism used.
In recent years, agricultural land values have risen as wealthy investors and according to thr Daily Telegraph last year are said to be “hoovering up agricultural land in order to avoid inheritance tax”.
This is pushing up land prices and making it harder for genuine farmers to acquire more land.
So,in the recent budget, the government announced a £1m cap on the amount of agricultural land an individual can pass on tax-free without paying inheritance tax, and only 50 per cent rather than 100 per cent relief after that.
As this excludes the farmhouse, it means an individual can pass on £1.5m and a couple £3 million worth of farm to their children without incurring any tax and after that pay at half the ususla rate and with 10 years to pay it, interest free.
Meanwhile, if parents pass on the farm early – at least 7 years before their death – there would be no inheritance tax at all.
Based on previous claims for APR, the treasury believes that only 400 farmers par year would pay inheritance tax under these plans.
I accept that data as accurate, but I also have sympathyfor family farmers, who, through unhappy circumstances, are not able to get the full relief, or who are not far above the threshold and would struggle to pay because farming has become so unprofitable.
I agree with local farmers that the policy needs some finessing to protect family farms and I will work with colleagues in parliament to promote alternatives so it may be tweaked before it is due to kick in in 2026.
In the meantime, I am encouraging a renewed Farming Resilience Fund to support organisations like UTASS and the NFU to provide bespoke guidance and encourage those concerned to get tax advice and plan because in many cases I have investigated so far people are worrying unnecessarily.