Last year people voted for change, and they got change for the worse. They thought they might get Tony Blair or Gordon Brown’s Labour. Instead they got Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour with Keir Starmer at the helm.
Starmer is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. Says one thing to get elected, then does another.
Labour promised to stand up for farmers when they wanted their votes, but as soon as they got in power, they let Whitehall bureaucrats convince them to tax family farms.
When the Conservatives were in office we had the same terrible ideas proposed to us by officials, and time and time again we said no. We did so because we understand rural life and we respect it.
Labour doesn’t get it. To them, farmers are just numbers on a spreadsheet, not the backbone of Britain.
Labour’s cruel farm tax changes are based on astounding ignorance.
They think that because land is expensive it means farmers are sitting on lots of cash in the bank. Far from it. Farming families do not have the cash to spare.
The tax is calculated on the sale value of their land, but most farmers do not want to sell.
They want to keep land in the family and their children take over as they did from their parents – because farming is a way of life. Not just a job.
Secondly, many who want to keep their land will be forced to sell their land to pay the tax bill.
Meaning they won’t have the land to farm. It’s completely crazy. I’ve seen farmers who sit on land worth a million pounds barely make £20k a year but would be expected to pay a £200,000 tax bill.
Labour has made a concession that the farmer gets 10 years to pay the money. This is nonsensical.
But we should not be surprised that this is happening. As I said, this is Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour. Not a single cabinet minister has ever run a business. Many have never even worked for a business.
They are mostly union officials and public sector workers who have no idea how hard entrepreneurs and self-employed people work to earn a living.
The end result is that farms that have been in families for generations will be forced to sell and be replaced by solar panels driven by Ed Miliband’s net zero by 2050 zealotry or for unsuitable housing forced through by Angela Rayner.
Many people who don’t live in rural areas ask: “Why should we all care?” Here’s why.
Without British farmers we risk our food security, but we also risk the careful stewardship of the landscape and the high-quality food standards we cherish so much. But it also means much more.
As a rural MP, I know just how important these farms are to communities across Britain. The rural British way of life is something to be cherished, not to be squandered.
Labour thinks it can punish those who don’t vote for them. It’s not just farmers they lied to.
They promised to protect pensioners but then snatched away their winter fuel payments. They are taking from our businesses, our entrepreneurs and our farmers.
I know how crucial farmers are to our way of life. I know the value of rural communities, and I will keep fighting for them.
The Conservative Party will always stand by those who are the lifeblood of this country. We will defend them, unapologetically and relentlessly, because we believe in Britain.
We believe in the strength and resilience of our communities. And we will not let Labour destroy them.
