There was cross party consensus throughout the debate that food security is national security.
The agriculture budget is essential to investing in the farming and growing businesses that underpin the future of food and deliver for the environment.
“As we saw in the debate, food is not partisan,” said NFU President Tom Bradshaw. “It should not be kicked around like a rotten pumpkin.
“The farming and growing businesses that produce food need long-term certainty so they can plan and invest for the future. The number one way to do this is to ensure we have a strategy to boost Britain’s food security, and this must be invested in, and supported by, an increased agriculture budget.
“The Chancellor recently held an ‘I’m backing British farming’ sign at our Labour Party conference stand. The Defra Secretary, Steve Reed, said at our Back British Farming Day parliamentary reception he was ‘making the case to Treasury to maximise support for farmers’. And the Food Security Minister Daniel Zeichner has been on farm six times in the past 100 days.
“There are countless examples of the government showing they value British farming, but these gestures and warm words must now be backed up by policy action,” he added.
During the debate in the House of Commons:
- Defra Secretary Steve Reed reiterated that “farming and food security are the foundations of our economy, our communities and indeed our environment”.
- Shadow Defra Secretary Steve Barclay pressed upon those present that “if we don’t support our farmers now, many farm businesses say they’re unlikely to survive”.
- Liberal Democrat Efra spokesperson Tim Farron highlighted how farmers are “utterly invaluable in the fight against climate change”.
Underspend, APR and flooding on agenda
The NFU briefed MPs ahead of the debate, which was well-attended by MPs of all parties who highlighted our key asks of government on the agriculture budget, growth, agricultural property relief and wet weather.
Chair of the Environmental Audit Committee Toby Perkins MP asked about the underspend in Defra in recent years, a point that Mike Amesbury MP also raised.
On Agricultural Property Relief, Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade Kevin Hollinrake MP echoed the NFU’s concerns about the impact any removal could have on intergenerational farming and family farms.
Former Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson MP also outlined the impact changes to inheritance tax and capital gains tax could have on the viability of British farming businesses.
“British farmers and growers have experienced a period of policy paralysis as they wait – surrounded by flooded fields and failed crops – for news of promises.”
NFU President Tom Bradshaw
A number of MPs raised significant concerns about flooding. Chair of the Food Security APPG Luke Charters MP reflected on a recent farm visit in his constituency where he was “gobsmacked” to hear that “in a bad year of flooding they can lose a quarter of their crop”.
Graham Stuart MP outlined the urgent need for the Farming Recovery Fund to be paid out so that farmers can rebuild their businesses following flooding.
Fight for the farming budget
In closing speeches, Shadow Farming Minister Robbie Moore MP said that “Labour has a choice in bringing forward this budget this month”.
“My advice to the Secretary of State is to pick up the phone to the Chancellor, back British farming, fight for the farming budget in full and deliver for farmers.”
Food Security and Rural Affairs Minister Daniel Zeichner MP concluded by saying “farmers are the backbone of our rural communities, our environment, our economy. But they face multiple challenges. We need proper, long-term strategy that works”.
The NFU is calling on the government to deliver a renewed, multi-year budget of £5.6 billion, the majority of which is needed to deliver the government’s environmental goals, with the remainder looking to drive productivity and support the economic stability of farm businesses, all supporting the health and wellbeing of our nation.
NFU President Tom Bradshaw said that over the first 100 days of the new government and ahead of the election, farmers and growers have experienced “a period of political paralysis as they wait – surrounded by flooded fields and failed crops – for news of promises to reset the government’s relationship with British farming and invest in its future”.
“This must start with all departments across Whitehall creating policies that assess the impact on our nation’s ability to feed itself, as well as take advantage of growth export markets and trade.”
Make your voice heard
Tom reiterated the importance of the Autumn Budget for giving certainty to farming businesses, set against a backdrop of record-lows in farmer confidence. The NFU President said this marked “a tipping point in British farming” and that “it is vital the government recognises this on 30 October and gives farmers and growers the confidence needed to invest in the future and deliver on our joint ambitions for growth, food security and the environment”.
As part of the NFU’s campaign on the agriculture budget, nearly 200 MPs have been contacted directly by our members about the importance of the agriculture budget and what it means to their food and farming businesses.
“Now is the time to make our voices heard,” Tom said. “I urge all members to use our campaigning letter template to write to their MP to tell them why the agriculture budget is so important to their businesses. It’s vital we show that this is an issue that affects farmers across the whole of the country.”
