Rural Affairs

Daniel Zeichner Excerpts

Monday 11th November 2024 Commons Chamber

[Richard Tice (Boston and Skegness) (Reform)]

The right hon. Lady has obviously had lots of letters and emails. Has she had a single one from any farmer who thinks this is a good idea? I have not had any from my constituency of Boston and Skegness.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Daniel Zeichner)]

We have—plenty!

[Victoria Atkins]

You couldn’t make it up, could you? This is what is so worrying. This is why, at the beginning, I talked about a Labour Government who do not understand and do not care, and it is exactly this attitude from the Government Front Bench that farmers and their families are seeing. In answer to the hon. Member for Boston and Skegness (Richard Tice), I say as a former Treasury Minister that if there is evidence of abuse, of course the Treasury and the Chancellor must go after that, but given the way the Government have designed this policy, it is going to go after the hard-working families that look after our farms in our great county.

--- Later in debate ---

[Robin Swann (South Antrim) (UUP)]

As a past president of the Young Farmers’ Clubs of Ulster and a former director of Rural Support, which is a mental health charity supporting farmers and farm families across Northern Ireland, I have worked on cases where farm families have been through foot and mouth, swine flu, avian influenza and TB. I have seen the impact. They have had to deal with complete herds being removed. However, I have never encountered so many farmers in Northern Ireland being as low as they are this minute, due to the farm family inheritance tax put on them by this Government in this place. They are so angry about what is happening.

The Secretary of State talked about not listening to the fury, or the alarming headlines, but a third of farms in Northern Ireland will be affected. Some 75% of our local dairy sector farms will be affected. Those on the Government Front Bench say, “No, they will not”, but that is the assessment of the Agriculture Minister in the devolved Assembly in Northern Ireland.

[Daniel Zeichner]

He is wrong.

[Robin Swann]

It is also the assessment of the Ulster Farmers Union. I encourage the Government Front Benchers to engage with the devolved Administrations, because if our Agriculture Minister in Northern Ireland is causing alarm and raising headlines that are not accurate, it is up to this Government to correct that. That is the impact, and the feedback that I am receiving from farms, farm families and our Agriculture Minister in the devolved Assembly in Northern Ireland.

I spoke to a friend over the weekend who is a bit younger than me, with a young family. He is now concerned about shackling his family farm to his children. He has been progressive, and has taken up every financial opportunity to progress the family farm and make sure that it is fit for purpose. He now says that if he has to pay 10 years of inheritance tax, that is 10 years in which he will not be investing in his farm, and its productivity. The average income in Northern Ireland is £27,345, and these measures are making our family farms unsustainable.

I think the hon. Member for Ceredigion Preseli (Ben Lake) mentioned devolved farming payments now becoming a Barnett consequential for Northern Ireland. I would love clarity from Treasury or DEFRA Ministers on who asked for that, because it was not Northern Ireland. It sounds as if it was not Wales, so why was that change made to how agricultural support goes to our devolved Administrations? On whose advice and guidance was that change made? What engagement did the Treasury or the Government have with the devolved institutions prior to making it? There are other issues on matters that are not devolved, but those were the two main ones I wanted to speak about.

--- Later in debate ---

[Harriet Cross (Gordon and Buchan) (Con)]

In my constituency and across the country, family farmers are the custodians of our countryside. For generations, they have contributed to our nation’s food security and land stewardship, provided employment, supported local supply chains, and brought rural communities together. The changes to agricultural property relief—this family farm tax—is the wrong tax aimed at the wrong targets. As we have heard many times, farms, while asset rich, are cash poor. Most farmers do not have hundreds of thousands of pounds of cash available to pay an inheritance tax bill, so they will have to sell the very assets that they use to farm to raise capital.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Daniel Zeichner)]

indicated dissent.

[Harriet Cross]

The Minister shakes his head, and he has been shaking his head throughout the debate. The issue is this: the Government are not listening to farmers the length and breadth of the country. They are not listening to the National Farmers Union, and they are not listening to the CLA. People who speak for the farming community, people who represent the farming community, are not being listened to, and that is why they are in this position. It does not matter, it seems, how much we say to the Minister, or how much we say what our constituents are saying. The Government are not listening, and they are not willing to listen.

Last Friday, I met members of NFU Scotland’s north-east region. Perhaps the Minister will not listen to this either, but they told me about some matters that they had been concerned about. One was a farmer whose father, aged 90, still owns the land and still farms it. He said to me, “I will have to sell. I thought I had a lifetime of farming ahead of me, but now it turns out that I only have what is left of my father's lifetime.” He did not sound angry; he just sounded broken. Another put it like this: “It is just a waste. Do they”—the Government—“not understand the resource that we have invested into family farms for generations—the skills, health and safety, teaching about husbandry and agronomy? We invest so much more than just money into farms, and this will all be lost. It is just such a waste.”

In their manifesto the Government said that

“food security is national security.”

They reiterated that last week, adding:

“The Government’s commitment to supporting farmers and rural communities is unwavering.”—[Official Report, 4 November 2024; Vol. 756, c. 23.]

However, in the few months since the election, the Government have done nothing to justify those claims. Granting solar farms on prime land, taxing fertiliser, removing the ringfence from the agricultural budgets for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, and making changes to inheritance tax will impact family farms for generations. The Government have missed a key point: it is not words that impress or satisfy our farming communities; it is action, and so far this Government’s actions have let our farmers down.

--- Later in debate ---

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Daniel Zeichner)]

It is a pleasure to have the opportunity to wind up this debate and to add my gratitude to, and support for, farmers working hard up and down the country to feed the nation and protect our environment.

I welcome the shadow Ministers to their places on the Opposition Front Bench. I spent nearly five years sitting there, and I have to say it is better on this side. During that time, how rarely we ever got to discuss rural policy in the Chamber. It is interesting that it has taken a Labour Government to give Government time to allow Members to speak up for rural areas. What brilliant contributions we have had from Labour Members about the things that matter to rural areas. I shall mention some of the excellent speeches.

I was thrilled to hear the three maiden speeches. My hon. Friend the Member for Cannock Chase (Josh Newbury) spoke about a range of issues—[Interruption.] Of course farming is important, but Conservatives should remember that many other things are going on in rural areas. We heard about those from my hon. Friend, but we also heard about ghastly homophobic bullying, and I pay tribute to him for his brave comments. We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Stirling and Strathallan (Chris Kane) about the extraordinary pedigree in his constituency, as well the wide range of issues, including film and television production, that help to create rural prosperity.

Closer to my part of the world, my hon. Friend the Member for Hemel Hempstead (David Taylor) described the beautiful countryside, but also talked of the challenges in housing and the food banks that scar our country. How much we should all work to ensure that food poverty is not faced in the future.

I cannot talk about all the speeches today, but I was pleased to hear the right hon. Member for East Hampshire (Damian Hinds) raising some other issues beyond the one that I will come to in a moment. We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for Doncaster East and the Isle of Axholme (Lee Pitcher) about flooding—a feature of many speeches. We heard a powerful speech from my hon. Friend the Member for Shrewsbury (Julia Buckley) about the positive things that the Labour Government are doing to address the real issues that we face.

We also heard from the Chair of the Select Committee, who is not in his place—[Interruption.] I am sorry—I missed him. I think he has moved. I always listen closely to his speeches and he made an important point when he said it is not about the figures. That is true, because the figures have been misrepresented, but he was right to say that there is a real fear out there—precisely because of the misrepresentations, not because of the figures.

We heard from my hon. Friend the Member for South Norfolk (Ben Goldsborough), who showed the difference between this side of the House and the other side. The future will be different for rural areas, food production and farming—[Interruption.] In a good way, because we are the future, they are the past. Then we went to my hon. Friend the Member for Whitehaven and Workington (Josh MacAlister), and we heard about how important it is to work collaboratively with people. We also heard about the important transition from the basic payments system towards the new way of working with and rewarding farmers effectively.

From my hon. Friend the Member for Macclesfield (Tim Roca) we heard about crime. It was interesting that it took a Labour Member, so deep into the debate, to talk about an issue that anyone who had actually been out on farms would have heard about—the constant thefts of GPS units. I sometimes wonder what world Conservative Members are living in—do they just read The Daily Telegraph all the time? Is that where they get their information?

My hon. Friend the Member for Bolton West (Phil Brickell) spoke about wonderful national parks and better access to the countryside, which is important for so many people; the Government will deliver on that. My hon. Friend the Member for Dunfermline and Dollar (Graeme Downie) spoke about how prosperity comes to rural areas. Sometimes it comes from filming and TV. There are many ways in which prosperity is earned in the countryside; this is the future. My hon. Friend the Member for Carlisle (Ms Minns) spoke about rural crime and PC Susan Holliday; I very much commend her for her work. My hon. Friend the Member for York Outer (Mr Charters) spoke about not just flooding but biosecurity, which is so important, and mental health, which we will come to in the Adjournment debate. I associate myself with the comments of the shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Keighley and Ilkley (Robbie Moore), about the important work that so many charities are doing.

My hon. Friend the Member for North East Hertfordshire (Chris Hinchliff) spoke about rural homelessness, which is an important topic. I was struck by how negative Opposition Members are about the prospect of building more homes. That is what matters to all our constituents. They need somewhere to live, not just somewhere to rent out to people at extortionate rates. My hon. Friend the Member for North West Cambridgeshire (Sam Carling) reminded the House about the extraordinary low levels of farmer confidence when the last Government were in power. The Conservatives bear some responsibility for that lack of confidence.

I was delighted to visit Hexham last week for the excellent conference. I say to the shadow Minister, it is striking how many people come up to me after each of these events and say, “You’re right. You’re right. You’re right.” Of course, against the huge peer pressure they are reluctant to say it, but they know that we are right. My hon. Friend the Member for Hexham (Joe Morris) is the first Labour MP for that area. The Conservatives might want to think about why that is. I think it is because they are looking to the past, not the future. We finished by hearing from my hon. Friend the Member for Rugby (John Slinger). How long it took in the debate to get to parish councils—the people closest to the ground.

Let me turn to the issue that the Opposition are consistently raising. I hear and understand what people are saying, but I waited in vain through the entire debate for an Opposition Member to address the real figures—the actual claims that have been made under APR. They are not a projection or a guess, but the figures published by the people in the Treasury who actually collect the tax. Those figures are of course the figures that we have been quoting: between 400 and 500 claims per year. With the changes in behaviour that are likely as a consequence of the policy—possibly, and quite likely, very good consequences—the numbers will be very small. That is not just what we have said; Paul Johnson from the Institute for Fiscal Studies has said it.

[Ben Obese-Jecty]

Will the Minister give way?

[Daniel Zeichner]

I will not, because I am afraid we are very close to the end. Opposition Members had four hours to get to the figures, but of course they would not want to engage with them because they tell a different story. We are confident that the policy can be made to work, but I am in discussion with the NFU and others on the figures so that they can understand how we arrived at the policy. We will continue to ensure that we engage properly with everybody. My hon. Friends have discovered that when they go and talk to people and explain it clearly, people are reassured. People should be reassuring rather than frightening.

Members raised issues around the devolved budgets. This year’s settlement has been carried forward in the same way as before, but what has changed is that it is no longer ringfenced for the devolved Administrations, so they can make the decisions. I would hope that the devolved Administrations would welcome that.

Let me finish on the positive news about the future that we are setting out for our food production system. I give credit to the previous Government for the agricultural transition that they began. The difference now is that we will turbocharge it and ensure that we transition in such a way that in the future we not only have strong food production in this country, but protect the environment and nature, with the stability of the biggest budget ever—over half a billion pounds for SFI this year. That would not have happened under the previous Government. I am confident that we will have a strong future for British farming in this country, provided that people do not spend the whole time talking it down.

Question put and agreed to.

Resolved,

That this House has considered rural affairs.