Budget Resolutions

Jenny Riddell-Carpenter Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd December 2025 Commons Chamber

[Terry Jermy (South West Norfolk) (Lab)]

In my maiden speech, I said that one third of all children in my constituency live in poverty. I reflect upon that often, and it causes me great concern. In among the fields, trees and pretty villages, poverty is a real issue. There are many reasons that poverty might exist, but not a single one of them is the fault of the children themselves. That is why I support the removal of the two-child cap.

I welcome the above-inflation increase in the state pension because pensioner poverty is of great concern, too, particularly in rural areas like mine, which struggle with low wages and poor-quality housing. The Government’s commitment to freezing fuel duty and rail fares will greatly help those of my constituents who continue to endure cost of living pressures and the additional expense of living in a rural area with limited public transport options. I welcome the progress that the Labour Government are making on those important issues, picking up the pieces after so many years of Conservative austerity left public services at breaking point.

The proposals relating to agricultural property relief, however, continue to concern me. Although I welcome the concession, it does not address the fundamental flaws. Farming is in crisis. Just this year, we have seen the second worst harvest on record, and confidence is at an all-time low. Longer, hotter summers, drought and flooding, delays to schemes such as the sustainable farming incentive, biosecurity threats, frustration with planning, permits and licensing, and the dominance of the supermarkets all erode the sustainability of the sector and weaken our food security immeasurably. While the Conservatives might be desperate to paint themselves as the face of rural Britain, farmers in my constituency remember all too well the failures of the last Tory Government and the lack of progress over many years. Rather than getting better, life got worse under the Tories in rural Britain, and in a change election, rural Britain revolted.

Nowhere was that change more extreme than in my constituency, which recorded the largest swing from Conservatives to Labour ever in a general election. While a short stint as Prime Minister did my opponent’s re-election chances no favours, it was her direct role in selling out British farmers that had already broken the support of many, for it was Liz Truss’s signature on many of the Tory Government’s trade deals that did so much damage, on top of a litany of other failures. It is no wonder that in the fields of South West Norfolk, where once there were Tory signs aplenty, at last year’s election they were harder to spot than a Reform party policy. This Government have the chance to reset the relationship with rural Britain, and I yearn for those progressive Labour values translated across our green and pleasant lands.

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Suffolk Coastal) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the things this Labour Government could do is to bring forward a dedicated rural strategy, which would address many of the issues he is referring to and build a stronger, better rural Britain?

[Terry Jermy]

My hon. Friend is right that Government policies do not always fall equally across the country, and I absolutely welcome the idea of a rural strategy.

Importantly, if the changes to APR go ahead, they will fail to address one of the key issues, because after 1 April it will still be financially advantageous for the super-rich to purchase agricultural land to avoid inheritance tax. At a rate of 20%, as opposed to 40%, it will remain a tax-efficient form of investment. In Norfolk, as elsewhere, we continue to see large swathes of land purchased by big corporations and the very well-off. This change will therefore not stop that abuse by the celebrities and the billionaires.

APR has contributed to over-inflated land prices, despite the profitability of farming continuing to be a major challenge. Farmers in my constituency rarely make a return on capital of more than 1%, and farming is so often misunderstood and caught out by the view that land ownership equals wealth. If a farmer owns 200 to 400 acres of land, as many of the 500 farmers in my constituency do, they may well be wealthy if they did something with that land other than farm it, but if they continue to farm the land, that value is theoretical and will return very little profit. That should be of huge concern to this country and this Government.

Farmers in my constituency regard themselves as custodians of the land, and in many ways, they provide a public service. I accept, as many in the farming community do, that we need to reform APR. With a few specific changes, this policy can be improved to better target its impact and provide the support for British farming that I know our Government want to provide. While I accept the economic situation and the appalling legacy of the last Conservative Government, the future of farming in this country depends on this Government’s policy being right.

--- Later in debate ---

[Jenny Riddell-Carpenter (Suffolk Coastal) (Lab)]

This autumn Budget will make a real and material difference to families across the country, including thousands in my constituency. Cutting energy bills by £150, capping rail fares and freezing NHS prescription charges are exactly the measures that my constituents have been asking for. We are giving people the breathing space that they need as the Government continue to invest in long-term solutions to bring down the cost of living for good—in energy, transport, homes and the jobs of the future.

The debate about farming inheritance has shone a spotlight on something deeply important, the fragility of farming profitability in Britain today. At the heart of my concern is a simple economic truth: you cannot tax a business that is not profitable. Even in good years, many farmers in my constituency struggle to break even. A typical 200-acre arable family farm, worth about £2 million, makes only about £27,000 in profit. Many family farms in Suffolk Coastal would not recognise even that figure. Farmers are not opposed to reform. They know that for far too long, agricultural property relief has been used as a loophole for the very wealthy to shelter their assets. So yes, closing that loophole is right, but we must do it in a way that protects working family farms, which simply cannot absorb a tax bill that they have no means to pay.

Our farming sector is on its knees, worn down by Brexit, spiralling costs, unfair trade deals, and supermarket price wars that leave British farmers squeezed to breaking point. There are farmers in this country on universal credit, and farmers in Suffolk Coastal are doing two or three jobs just to put food on their tables. This is the human reality that APR reform must take into account. I support the spousal concession announced in the Budget, but we must go further. I am calling on the Government to commit themselves to a full review of the impact of these APR changes in 12 to 18 months. That review must look not only at how farms have funded these changes but at the wider impacts on food sustainability, the rural economy, land management and food standards. In the long term we must consider the role of supermarkets, whose combined pre-tax profits exceeded £5 billion last year, while some paid no corporation tax at all. Let me gently suggest that perhaps we have an opportunity to raise revenue here and protect our family farms.

I support this Government and I support this Budget, but on APR we must keep listening, keep engaging, and ensure that in closing loopholes we do not inadvertently harm the very communities who feed our country.