Farming and Rural Communities

Lord Davies of Brixton Excerpts

Thursday 3rd April 2025 Lords Chamber

[Lord Davies of Brixton (Lab)]

I look forward to this debate and thank the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, for introducing the issues that clearly need to be addressed. I look forward to my noble friend’s response. I am a sort of bookend in this event. I have come as much to listen and learn as to provide definitive information.

I am not a farmer—my father decided that he did not wish to take over the family farm; he was a qualified chemist—but, because of that farm, to a limited extent I feel I have a sense of the cultural hold of being from a farming background. I still occasionally visit the land that was ours and feel a sense of attachment—so I get that. It is important that government policies recognise the cultural content of farming and agriculture. In general, however, what we need are economic and planning decisions that support farming practices that deliver benefits for food production, biodiversity and climate resilience, while at the same time maintaining the countryside that we all know and love.

I thank various organisations and the Library for their helpful briefings. They include the Nature Friendly Farming Network, the World Wide Fund for Nature UK and the Campaign to Protect Rural England. I assume that there are parallel organisations in the other nations of the UK. They all emphasise the vital role of public funding, planning and infrastructure in creating and maintaining thriving rural landscapes while meeting our shared environmental goals and, not least, in achieving a successful and thriving agricultural industry.

In introducing the debate the noble Lord, Lord Roborough, outlined a number of major concerns, including the compulsory purchase of land to meet our housing targets. Clearly, this has to be undertaken in a way that does not work against the general objectives that I laid out. The issue of what should be paid for land—the enhanced market value with planning permission for housing, or its value as agricultural land—is important and I fully support the Government’s approach to that.

The most contentious issue has been the inheritance tax reforms. In any debate on this issue, you have to recognise that the problem has been created by the inheritance tax system. In general principle, I see no reason why particular groups should be absolved from their responsibility to pay part of their wealth following their death, to the general good. I support the concept of inheritance tax, and I do not see any reason in principle why the agricultural industry should be exempt. However, going back to the point I made earlier, the cultural significance of the family farm is a real factor and any changes we undertake have to recognise that.

Those who have read the financial pages over many years will know that there is a general view that inheritance tax is a voluntary tax and, in order to avoid it, you have to make changes to the way history and tradition have required farmers to behave. That will take time to adjust to, but we have asked many other communities to make cultural changes, and I see no reason why farmers should be exempt from that objective.

I support the Government’s farming initiatives, and I look forward to the publication later in the year—I hope my noble friend will cover this—of the 25-year farming road map. I look forward to hearing other speakers.