Chancellor’s Decisions Betray Lack of Understanding
In the wake of last week’s Labour budget, Rachael Reeves appeared on the Laura Keunsberg show last Sunday morning. One clear takeaway from this appearance was how little the Chancellor understands rural and island communities, how complex the food production chain is, and how many people depend on it for their livelihoods.
Moreover, it was very clear that she either does not know, or worse does not care, what the net effects of her budget decisions would have on farming communities here in Scotland.
At a recent regular meeting of local NFU members in Perth, Angus MP Dave Doogan recited the very negative reaction in the Chamber as she made her announcements, and how she looked surprised – as though she couldn’t quite understand why.
Perhaps that is the glimmer of hope the sector needs in order to call for a rethink on some of those decisions.
Before the election, there was a clear and united voice across the country that farming needed to see multi annual year ring fenced funding, increased from the previous levels, and the Bew Review recommendations implemented for collective engagement to agree the principles of future intra-UK allocations. That was the right call – this would ensure the same certainty we had while we were in the EU.
Instead, Labour’s Brexit Britain approach to farming is worse than before. The removal of ring fencing and the Barnetising of the funding was always one of the biggest fears from the day after the Brexit vote, and it has now come to pass under the Labour Party.
Scotland has traditionally and rightly seen a larger-than-population share of the funding for agriculture when it was allocated from the EU, for all the reasons we understand. That has now been reversed.
There is still a need for clarity on how long the baselining will be held for, but the soundings are not positive. This could effectively see a massive cut in the funding for agriculture from Westminster, but it will be hidden from view by the fact that it has now been rolled into the Block Grant.
As with the Winter Fuel Allowance, there has been no regard given to what this will do to communities if it is not reversed.
Please repost this message, these decisions must be reviewed. pic.twitter.com/kCMRoOZCaC
— Martin Kennedy (@MartinKennedyVP) November 3, 2024
They have also imposed changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR), and made these announcements with absolutely no discussion with the devolved nations. This is in spite of the colossal contribution that agriculture makes to the Scottish economy.
It throws into question any optimism of a reset in relationships between Westminster and Holyrood governments when decisions like this, which could see family farms in Scotland devastated, are taken without a single exchange of words with those stakeholders – no views sought as to the ramifications of their proposals.
The NFU are clear in their position, and have challenged the suggestion that only one in four farms would be affected by the change to APR inheritance tax as misleading. They say this doesn’t take account of how land prices differ across the country, and so will impact communities differently.
This budget has been a wrecking ball to agriculture. It has devastated certainty of support, it has destroyed succession planning for family farms, and it has left the sector feeling battered and bruised at a time when what we needed was a recognition of the value that the sector brings to the country.
We need people coming in – young people with their energy and ideas, with ambitions and hope for a future career in a world class sector – not abandoning it and cutting stock numbers. It is risking our food security as well as our environmental and biodiversity gains made to date.
We, appropriately, place high expectations on farming to deliver a big ask. We want food production, emissions reductions, biodiversity gains and to farm for nature and climate.
In return we provide justifiable public support – it’s a relationship everyone knows and understands. This partnership approach between the Scottish Government and industry is vital to deliver the changes we all require and give security to the communities who will deliver.
While Labour have thrown all that trust out the window, the SNP government will continue to do all it can to support the industry through that partnership forged over many years. We will continue with direct payments and co-design of future funding, and we will help build sustainability in tandem with prioritising food production.
We will no doubt disagree on certain details, but the fundamental principle of recognising and valuing the industry for all it does, and can continue to do, will be at the heart of SNP thinking. If the chancellor wants to build the kind of working partnership that we have forged, then reversing the catastrophic decisions she has made so far may be a start.
