Small Farms and Family Businesses

Earl of Caithness Excerpts

Thursday 12th December 2024 Lords Chamber

[The Earl of Caithness (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate my noble friend Lord Leicester on this debate, and I take this opportunity to say a fond goodbye to my noble friend Lady Cumberlege—and not only that but a thank you. She is one of the few people who have changed this country for the better.

Promoting growth is supposedly the Prime Minister’s number one priority:

“productivity growth in every part of the country”,

screamed the Labour Party manifesto. That is absolutely a laudable goal, but is it realistic? Unfortunately it is not. Growth comes from the private sector, not state employment. Productivity in the state sector is below the level seen in 1997, yet state workers have been rewarded with significant pay rises, which will be paid for by the private sector.

The £40 billion in tax rises in the Budget, so applauded by the Cabinet, was

“an egregious act of self-harm”.

It will

“kill entrepreneurship, snuff out wealth creation and stunt growth”.

The Government would do well to heed these words of Sir James Dyson, one of Britain’s leading industrialists.

The consequences will be severe, and we have already witnessed the sharpest fall in hiring for four years, with huge damage to the employment prospects of many and the inevitable increase in unemployment to come. It is a remarkable feat, even for this Labour Government, to alienate the entire food sector in under six months in office. The most recent Defra English farm profitability data demonstrates that 30% of English farms lost money in the last year, with another 25% making less than £25,000, even when all the income streams were accounted for, with hill and upland farms suffering the most. Does the Minister realise that we have lost 7,000 farm businesses since 2019?

There were no significant pay rises for farmers. Instead, the Government poured petrol on to the flames of an industry in crisis. In addition to the ideological attack on farmers by changing the APR and BPR rules in the Budget, there have been announcements on changes to employee national insurance and 4x4 double cab tax rules, an immediate reduction in BPS from original timescales, no increase in ELMS payments despite input cost increases, a carbon tax on fertiliser imports from January 2027, the pausing of most of the capital grant schemes, the Defra review into farming rules for water guidance and delays to SFI applications.

Furthermore, climate change is resulting in more extreme rainfall events, which is challenging the ability to farm heavy land. Its viability was formerly aided by grants for drainage and the advent of pesticides and fertilisers. About a third of lowland England is relatively low-grade clay soils, and these fields are becoming waterlogged and unviable. This will have a significant implication for food production and food security. A catastrophe is unfolding in front of our eyes and the Government do not seem to care.