Rural Economy

Lord Douglas-Miller Excerpts

Thursday 11th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Douglas-Miller (Con)]

My Lords, it is a great pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Taylor of Holbeach, whose knowledge in this area, as we heard, is very considerable. I also declare my farming interests as set out in the register.

So often, Labour Governments present themselves as friends and champions of the rural economy. But as we are seeing very visibly with this Government, the reality is somewhat different. Our rural way of life is being constantly eroded by the views of the urban majority, and our farming infrastructure and ability to grow food dismantled by ill thought-through policy and taxation.

I mean no disrespect to the Minister, but one of the key reasons for this, which I have mentioned before in the House, is that Defra simply has no one on its senior management or ministerial team who has any real-world farming knowledge, or farms on sufficient scale to understand the impact of this Government’s legislation. As a result, Defra Ministers and civil servants rely on very questionable advice from arm’s-length bodies such as Natural England, which are themselves populated by quasi-academics with their own ideological agenda, who have little or no understanding of how our rural communities work and often display a breathtaking level of political overreach. This translates across into Labour rural policy. Conceptually, the inverse would be like asking the senior management team of the National Farmers’ Union to run the Treasury—although some might argue that is not such a bad idea.

Seriously, protecting food security, growing the rural economy and maintaining the social fabric of the British countryside requires much more than just ideological theories and political slogans. It requires real, practical, effective and consistent policies that balance economic development, food security and conservation with the more nuanced elements of rural life.

The Labour Party’s approach to the rural economy has been quite the opposite, with policies such as the family farm tax, increases to the minimum wage, increases to national insurance contributions, withdrawing SFI at no notice and the banning of rural traditions such as trail-hunting and the use of lead shot. All these have caused farmers and those who live in the countryside severe economic hardship and a great deal of mental strain. Simply put, the rural economy feels, for good reason, under siege from Labour.

Let me return to the issue of policy consistency. Successful land management, food security and rural prosperity require clear, consistent planning and a long-term approach. I urge the Minister to tell his colleagues that frequent, unsignalled policy changes and endless U-turns create uncertainty for rural businesses, unsettle investors and create serious cash-flow problems for the sector—all of which lead to the sluggish and demoralised situation that we face now.

I close by asking the Minister three things. First, will he maintain a clear head when looking at banning or further restricting rural activities? Those pressing for a ban never understand the whole picture, and although they might outweigh in sheer numbers those who participate in these rural activities, that neither justifies nor validates their opinion. Secondly, will he publicly acknowledge the real-terms impact that inflation is having on farming budgets and look again at support, particularly direct support for fertiliser costs, to ensure that food continues to be grown across the UK? Thirdly, will he reverse the crippling APR and BPR tax charges on family farms and businesses, which continue to cause economic and emotional agony across the whole farming sector?