Sustainable Farming Incentive

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Thursday 15th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Stephen Morgan]

I do not accept that we have not learned lessons from the past. That is why we made a number of changes for SFI26, as I set out at the outset of my statement. Of course I am sorry if people applied for this scheme and were unsuccessful, and I understand people’s frustrations, and that is why I am working hard to put it right.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

Many farms in Wiltshire are marginal at best, and now that they are having to divert investment into a pot to pay future inheritance taxes, they are being pushed over the edge, to be honest. What does the Minister think this latest will do for those businesses, and what assessment has he made, regardless of the attribution of blame, of how many farms will actually be sold up—families packing up and going away—as a result of this latest round of DEFRA incompetence?

[Stephen Morgan]

I thank the right hon. Member for his question. As I said at the outset, it is worth noting that £2.3 billion has been made available for the farming budget this year, with £11.8 billion for sustainable farming throughout the lifetime of this Parliament. If he has particular examples of farmers who have been unable to apply for SFI26, I encourage him to share those with me. For the first time since the second world war, a Government have published a farming road map to bring certainty to the sector, and I am busy getting on delivering that, working in partnership with the sector to ensure a profitable, productive and more resilient farming sector for the future.

Waste Management Sites

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Wednesday 15th July 2026 Westminster Hall

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Dr Andrew Murrison (in the Chair)]

Order. We are under time pressure, so I will place an indicative limit of four minutes on speeches.

--- Later in debate ---

[Dr Andrew Murrison (in the Chair)]

Order. Members will have to be brief. I am sure that Adam Jogee will be an exemplar.

Farming: Financial Sustainability

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Westminster Hall

[David Smith]

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. He will see this in the road map and in the Government’s approach. There needs to be the right balance between environmental approach, renewables and food production. I agree that the decision about where solar farms go is key.

We need to help British farming to develop greater financial resilience and shield it from external pressures. That starts with ensuring that imported food products meet the same high standards as home-grown produce. I ask the Minister to offer some thoughts on what guarantees he can make so that alignment with the EU and other trade deals will maintain a level playing field on quality. That subject was not heavily touched on in the road map.

Stability is also vital for our farms. Although agri-environmental schemes should not be the difference between the black and the red, they have a role to play in farm budgets. They can cover a bad year or provide extra on top, but take-up, delivery and financial sustainability demand stability. The withdrawal of the sustainable farming incentive last year dented farming confidence; I encourage the Minister to pay very close attention to roll-out of that, which we expect imminently.

Devolved economies have a role to play in developing food security, too. Farming should be part of a tightly bound regional ecosystem in which regional investment banks, devolved funding pots and local authorities work together to match up funding, skills and procurement pathways. In our manifesto, we promised that half of all food purchased across the public sector would be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards—a great ambition. Will the Minister update us on the progress towards that, and on what work he is undertaking to create a public record of how much of public institutions’ food is sourced from the UK? We can create a virtuous circle in that way.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

The hon. Member is right to say that we need to produce more food in this country but, at the moment, farmers are telling me that they are not putting crops in the ground because they cannot afford the fertiliser to sustain them because of the situation in the Gulf. What does the hon. Member think the Government should do to support farmers right now?

[David Smith]

If the right hon. Member bears with me, I will get to exactly that point.

The second area of concern is the marketplace. The FFCC reports that farming productivity increased by 60% from the ’70s to the 2020s, but that farming incomes have not increased in line with that. The size of and competition between supermarkets have forced farmers to accept bargain basement farm-gate prices at times, and the middle men have consolidated too. The National Farmers’ Union reports that, in the ’70s, there were 2,500 abattoirs across the UK; there are now just 200. The reality for the fragmented farming sector has been bleak: its increased productivity still ends in lower prices.

One of the best responses to this high-cost, low-price trap is to create a new labelling and welfare system based on the Made in Australia approach, which the LRRG has advocated for. I pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Noah Law) for his work on that. Every food product in supermarkets, wholesalers and catering should clearly tell consumers how much of it was made in the UK, ideally in which region and to what welfare standard. Indeed, regional identity systems should be supported and verified. Instead of superb Northumberland beef being thrown into the same mincer as low-cost, low-welfare imports, packaging can help consumers choose between different quality products at different price points and different welfare standards. The farmers who invest more in their produce can then negotiate for more at the farm gate.

The Government have to develop tighter rules on what can and cannot be claimed as “farmer-supported”, “grown in Britain” or other heartwarming slogans that do not reward the hard graft of British farmers. I welcome the fact that the Groceries Code Adjudicator has already been taken into DEFRA following the Batters review.

We should help farmers consider how to develop better collective bargaining power. My understanding is that the Agriculture Act 2020 provides a framework for producer organisations to form co-operatives. We should give that our full support. At the end of the day, we the Labour party are a party of mutuals and co-operatives.

The third and final string of the bow is innovation. There have been some major steps in this direction under Labour. I am really pleased that the road map is so committed to innovation, and that £123 million has been committed to investing in innovation this year alone. The NFU has urged the Government to implement the national policy planning framework as soon as possible, which would really help.

We need to look at how we can cut inputs and free up capital for farmers to reinvest in their farms. Energy prices are too high. The recent red diesel fuel duty cut was an incredibly welcome step and has been well received by my farmers. I am now interested to see what options are open to help farmers install renewable energy supplies on their estates via GB Energy. I support the NFU’s ask of the Government to help farmers cut electricity prices by opening a standard industrial classification subdivision for energy intensive farming.

Fertiliser prices are too high. There is massive unease about the incoming carbon border adjustment mechanism regime and its effect on fertiliser prices, which is already one of the biggest costs for farmers. We can transform the fertiliser conversation altogether by restarting ammonia production in this country. Sadly, the last plant to produce virgin fertiliser in this country was allowed to wind down by the previous Government in 2023. I know that the Minister for Industry has been working hard in this area already, and I hope that the shadow farming Minister can look at this.

All that strategic support would cut input costs, thus freeing up capital for farmers to use on developing new technologies that help them produce more for less. The Government’s farming innovation fund will have £200 million up to 2030. That is an excellent example of state-backed innovation. Farmers in North Northumberland are already experimenting with using soil and sampling and targeted purchases to cut their fertiliser bills. The Government need to find those farmers and invest in their work.

A local farmer told me recently:

“As a farming family we often accept that we are privileged to work in the profession that we do…but it is often somewhat demoralising (and distracting) to consider what little relative financial reward we receive for the work we do.”

Other industries grow and shrink as conditions change, but we will always need food, and we will always need much of our food to be grown here in the UK. The issue is that what we pay for food today is also what we are paying for our food tomorrow. While farmers remain stuck at the wrong end of the low-price, high-cost cycle, our national food security is also at risk.

It is the role of Labour, not a laissez-faire Conservative party or a rootless Reform UK party, to dignify the work of farmers by ensuring that they receive proper reward for what they do. All workers should be supported by the Labour party, whether they are blue, white or green-collar workers. By developing more resilient British farming as part of our national security, regulating the marketplace so that quality produce gets a fair price, and opening up opportunities for farmers to innovate and increase their margins, we can make sure that farming is sustainable for years to come, and we can keep North Northumberland beef on the menu.

Farming Road Map and Profitability Review

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Wednesday 24th June 2026 Commons Chamber

[Emma Reynolds]

We have announced additional funding for the farming innovation programme, bringing total innovation funding to £123 million. This is to back practical technology, including robotics, soil health and water management. It is about the shift to sustainable farming practices.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

Wiltshire farmers listened to Ministers at the Oxford farming conference and heard the Government’s pledge to support farmers during difficult harvests and supply shocks. They now find that they are in the middle of a supply shock, with many considering whether to plant their fields right now because of the price of fertiliser, about a third of which comes through the strait of Hormuz. If the pledge was more than rhetorical, is the Secretary of State able to say what practical measures the Government will be executing right now to assist the people I have just described?

[Emma Reynolds]

I will come to fertiliser, but let me first say to the right hon. Gentleman that we are cutting red diesel duty by a third, bringing it to the lowest level in more than 20 years. We are taking measures to help farmers with the increased costs of energy and fuel—[Interruption.] Gosh, there is a wall of sound here, such is the excitement on the Opposition Benches.

We have asked the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board to look at more frequent official fertiliser price reporting. We are also doing all that we can to help farmers move away from such high use of fertilisers to more efficient use, along with a longer-term plan to change fertilisers so that British farming can make use of more innovative practices.

Land Use Change: Food Security

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)]

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dr Murrison. I thank the right hon. Member for Aldridge-Brownhills (Wendy Morton) for securing this important debate.

British farmers are the best in the world. They are the bastions of the countryside and our rural way of life, and the backbone of our food system. If we lose our farms, we lose our food security, and if we lose our food security, we lose our national security and become vulnerable to volatile global markets and reliant on more foreign inputs.

Glastonbury and Somerton is home to more than 800 farms, mainly productive small family farms, and I want to keep it that way, but many farmers I have spoken to feel under assault, as they face increasing and competing demands for their land. Some are likely to give up farming altogether. It is therefore not surprising, but nevertheless worrying, that DEFRA’s land use framework consultation stated that 14% of England’s agricultural land could be reduced or totally lost to food production by 2050. As UK food security falls and global instability increases, the land use framework must ensure future food resilience.

Henry Dimbleby’s national food strategy called for a focus on food production and nature recovery. Those demands can work side by side. Many farmers in Glastonbury and Somerton already champion ecology and nature-friendly methods. To give a few examples, the Lang Partnership in Curry Rivel has done that for more than 30 years, Upton Bridge farm near Long Sutton farms regeneratively, and Higher farm near Castle Cary has planted more than 3,000 trees, sequestering 400 tonnes of carbon and increasing biodiversity by 25% since 2023. The Liberal Democrats are clear: we must financially support farmers to use sustainable, environmentally friendly methods and encourage others to do so. That is why we will properly fund the farming budget, with an additional £1 billion a year.

Meanwhile, half of UK farmers do not understand DEFRA’s vision for farming, and it is easy to see why. With the new sustainable farming incentive not yet available and higher-tier schemes open to only a handful, many farmers have been left in limbo. Over 5,800 countryside stewardship agreements were due to end in December, and although they have been given a short 12-month reprieve, that is far too late for many farmers who were forced to make the decision to destroy years of environmental investment because they did not know what was going to happen.

Those projects have delivered biodiversity, flood resilience and nature restoration for decades. If they are not available, farmers will be denied the opportunity to fulfil their crucial role of achieving a more sustainable and resilient food system. The spring spending review cut DEFRA’s budget by 2.3% annually in real terms, including a £100 million cut to the farming budget. The Liberal Democrats believe that such cuts risk doing serious harm to the environment, rural economies, farming communities and food security.

We have already seen a long-term contraction in the UK dairy industry. The number of UK dairy farms has fallen by more than 30% since 2015, while the national herd has dropped by nearly 90,000 dairy cows. The recent drop in farm-gate milk prices is yet another example of the mounting pressure threatening dairy farmers’ ability to make a living at all.

In response, I introduced the Dairy Farming and Dairy Products Bill to urge the Government to back and protect our dairy farmers. Dairy farmers deserve fairness in the supply chain, so the Government must regulate it properly. In the Bill, I have called for the Secretary of State to ensure that detrimental trade deals do not cause harm to our farmers, and to enforce point-of-origin labelling on dairy products. The public must know the provenance of their food so that they can make the right choice and are not duped into buying products purporting to be British. I have also called for the Secretary of State to give the Groceries Code Adjudicator teeth and to combine it with a dairy supply chain adjudicator so there are proper enforcement powers.

Our agricultural sector needs fairness, not financial whiplash, and a Government who back it. Instead, it is now facing the impact of the family farm tax and the risks that poses to national food security. The Government have claimed that the policy will impact “only” 27% of farms, but NFU research has shown that 75% of commercial family farms will exceed the £1 million threshold. Analysis shows that an inheritance tax bill based on a £1 million threshold, even spread over 10 years, would far exceed the average return of a medium-sized farm and absorb most earnings from larger farms.

An example of that is Paul and Ruth Kimber, who farm near Charlton Musgrove. They told me that their family have farmed there for 350 years, but they could be the ones who close their farm gates for the very last time. If the policy does not change, many farms will be forced to sell land and other assets to pay the tax. A recent Liberal Democrat freedom of information request uncovered the fact that the Government looked at changing course on this earlier this year. On behalf of farmers in Glastonbury and Somerton and across the country, I strongly urge the Government to look at it once more. Otherwise, they will put our food security at risk.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (in the Chair)]

I will begin calling the Front Benchers at 3.28 pm, so hon. Members need to be aware of time. I am sure that Chris Hinchliff will be an exemplar.

Flood Risk and Flood Defence Infrastructure: North-west England

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Tuesday 18th November 2025 Westminster Hall

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Dr Andrew Murrison (in the Chair)]

Order. I shall begin calling the Front Benchers at 5.08 pm, so colleagues might like to titrate their contributions accordingly.

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[Emma Hardy]

That is very exciting. I was offered beer by my hon. Friend the Member for Stockport (Navendu Mishra), so perhaps I can come for a visit on the way.

The issue of forecasting was raised. We have improved our flood warning and informing system, with a new system going live on, I think, 21 October. The maps allow people to zoom down for more detailed information. Constant work is going on to make our forecasting more accurate. I encourage all hon. Members to talk to the specialists at the Met Office about how they do this work. It is more art than science, because they have to look at different predictions. If there are heavy downpours concentrated in one area, as we had last year, it becomes difficult to judge exactly, but they are continually working to improve the forecasts. Our flood forecasting in this country is some of the best and most accurate in the world, but there is always more that we can do.

Many hon. Members raised the issue of insurance. We had an insurance roundtable. As I have explained before, the floods resilience taskforce is a huge group of people who meet together, before creating action groups that go away and focus on particular issues. We have just had an action group to look into insurance—who is getting it, who is not getting it, how affordable it is and what information is out there. There is also the flood insurance directory, which I am happy to circulate among Members; it allows people to find something that is affordable. I have been pushing insurance companies to offer the Build Back Better scheme, which gives people an extra £10,000 to make their properties more flood-resilient, to as many as possible. Greater Manchester combined authority is doing great work, taking a combined look at how we tackle flooding: it is one of the best examples of that holistic working around the country. The authority sits on the floods resilience taskforce to offer advice.

I thank all hon. Members for their contributions. It was lovely to visit Leigh and Atherton and talk to people there. I have met the hon. Member for Glastonbury and Somerton (Sarah Dyke) to discuss watercourse maintenance, and I stand by my promise to visit next year.

On insurance—I apologise if everyone knows this—I want to flag something about how Flood Re works. It puts a levy on everybody else who pays insurance, so every time someone asks that the scheme be increased or widened, or that more people benefit from it, I want to sound a note of caution, because that would result in people who are not at risk paying more for their insurance. That is how it works: it is a levy system. It would be wonderful to have lots more money for everything, but I hope that everyone who is asking me for extra money will support our Budget next week.

Finally, let me thank my hon. Friend the Member for Warrington South for securing this debate on the incredibly important issue of flood risk and defence. We should all encourage our constituents to sign up for flood alerts and warnings, have a flood plan and know what to do if there is a flood emergency. A pack has gone out to every Member of Parliament and was circulated again just last week with a “Dear colleague” letter. Will Members please use that information and share it as much as possible, so we can ensure that everybody is prepared for the winter ahead?

[Dr Andrew Murrison (in the Chair)]

I call Sarah Hall to wind up extremely briefly.

[Sarah Hall]

Thanks, everyone. It has been a fantastic debate.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (in the Chair)]

That was commendably brief.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered flood risk and flood defence infrastructure in the North West.

Illegal Waste: Organised Crime

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Monday 17th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Emma Hardy]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. It is appalling to see in the pictures how the pollution is right next to the river, and it is very concerning. Obviously criminal investigations are ongoing, and work is happening on the ground. The Environment Agency is working closely with all local partners, but my hon. Friend is right that we need to make sure that this is joined up across all the different authorities. I can assure him that that is happening. I can also offer him a meeting so that he can get more detail on what is happening in this particular case.

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

On the dumping of waste across the countryside, what assessment has the Minister made of the ability and capacity of the Environment Agency to adequately control and regulate the dumping of toxic emissions by wholly unwanted and unnecessary waste incinerators that are being foisted on our communities, including in Westbury in my constituency?

[Emma Hardy]

As I understand it, all waste incinerators are tightly permitted. If there are problems with permitting or if the right hon. Member believes that permits are being broken, I encourage him to contact the local Environment Agency office so that it can be urgently investigated.

Independent Water Commission

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Monday 21st July 2025 Commons Chamber

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

The Minister said he wanted nine more reservoirs, but can he say how many of that number are already under construction or in the planning process, when we can expect to see them and who will pay? Also, is it his view that Sir Jon Cunliffe’s predicted uplift of more than 30% in real terms for water bill payers will be covering the cost?

[Steve Reed]

I would be more than happy to write to the right hon. Member with the details he is asking for, but as I have said earlier, we are also speeding up the planning process and treating reservoirs as nationally significant infrastructure, meaning that I, as the Secretary of State, will take the consenting decision so that we can do this in months rather than the years or even decades it has been taking up till now.

Recycling of Tyres

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Tuesday 29th April 2025 Westminster Hall

[Dr Andrew Murrison (in the Chair)]

Tessa Munt will move the motion and then the Minister will respond. I remind other Members that they may make a speech only with prior permission from the Member in charge of the debate and the Minister. As is the convention for 30-minute debates, there will not be an opportunity for the Member in charge to wind up.

[Tessa Munt (Wells and Mendip Hills) (LD)]

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the matter of recycling end-of-life tyres.

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. The Government have placed the circular economy at the heart of their agenda. The circular economy taskforce has been established and is expected to report back later this year. Adopting a focus on the circular economy means changing the way we think about so-called waste. We need to see things currently perceived as waste as a resource—a resource with an economic value that can be recovered and contribute to the economic growth that this Government so seriously seek. We also need to implement policies designed to maximise the economic value from these resources.

Draft Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Regulations 2025

Andrew Murrison Excerpts

Monday 31st March 2025 General Committees

[Dr Andrew Murrison (South West Wiltshire) (Con)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Ms Hobhouse. I will not say a great deal, but the Minister is quite correct to introduce this statutory instrument. Plainly, its provenance is in measures taken by the previous Government. Since she mentioned where most of this work is under way, I am interested to know how much she expects the legislation to boost the sector in this country, and whether she has had any discussions with the European Union, which will probably take a dim view of some of this. One of the benefits of leaving the European Union is that we can make such legislation, whereas it was previously extremely difficult to do so.

How does the Minister believe that the legislation will impact growth in the sector, and can she assure us that in applying this basic research, we will be able to capitalise on it? Unfortunately, the story in this country is that we are exceptionally good at doing basic research, but other countries and jurisdictions take on that research and we see very little of the uptick or benefit from it. It seems to me that this is a case in point. It would be unfortunate if we were to carry out such research—it will be expensive—in England, only to find that it was exploited elsewhere, particularly in America. What is the Minister doing to make sure that will not be the case? Does she intend the Government to offer any fiscal or other encouragement to companies that might seek to exploit our basic research?

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[Emma Hardy]

I thank my hon. Friend for his contribution, which was thoughtful, as always, and demonstrated our care for other countries around the world. We have talked about resistance to pests and changes owing to climate change, and this is generally a good and innovative technology that can be used to benefit many people. As I said, although the EU seems to be moving in this area, we are diverging and we do not have time to wait.

[Dr Murrison]

Will the Minister give way?

[Emma Hardy]

I will try to answer the right hon. Gentleman’s question and then he is welcome to intervene. A report by the Breakthrough Institute and Alliance for Science estimates that the EU’s current regulations on gene editing could result in an annual economic opportunity cost of $182 billion to $356 billion for the EU. That is why we want to act now to place English scientists and breeders at the forefront across Europe to make the most of opportunities presented by precision-breeding technologies.

[Dr Murrison]

The Minister has pretty much answered the question I was going to put to her, which was: what assessment has she made of the competitive advantage? I am trying to be helpful to the Government. I know that they say they want lots of growth, and this is an opportunity to get growth, is it not? But to get growth we need competitive advantage, not just with the States, but with the EU. So my question really is: how much does she think we will be advantaged by the legislation? She has given me a figure, which sounds like a lot of money. I encourage her to go further and, as Europe becomes more and more restrictive in the technologies that it appears to be fighting scared of, the UK must be able to be rational in how it positions itself. In this area, that means being encouraging to our science base, of course, as well as our ability to exploit the findings of that research here in the UK.

[Emma Hardy]

As I said, there is an opportunity of $182 billion to $356 billion that we can perhaps not exploit—that is maybe the wrong word—but utilise, or take advantage of.