EDM 406: Implications for rural communities of the Autumn Budget 2024

That this House recognises the vital contribution that British farmers make to our economy, environment and food security; understands that the farming industry has suffered from the botched trade deals that the former Conservative government negotiated and the poorly managed transition to Environmental Land Management schemes, increases in input costs, workforce shortages, extreme weather events and cuts to their incomes; is therefore deeply concerned by the Government's Budget announcement to cap agricultural property relief to an effective tax rate of 20% on all agricultural assets which are valued at over £1 million; believes that this decision unfairly affects family farms and rural businesses and may force tenant farmers and family farms to stop farming; notes that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs’ day-to-day spending is set to be cut by 1.9% over the next two years; further notes the Chancellor’s decision to accelerate the phase-out of the direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme; also believes that these decisions put national food security, the natural environment and the heritage of agricultural communities and the rural economy at greater risk; and urges the Government to reverse its cut to agricultural property relief, raise the farming budget by £1 billion a year and issue an urgent review into the accelerated phase-out of the direct payments under the Basic Payment Scheme, to make sure our farmers can continue to feed the nation and protect our natural environment.