Farmers are angry and, as over 20,000 descended on Westminster today to protest against the government’s attack on rural Britain, Graham was there to lend his support and hear what farmers from the East Riding have to say.
Farmers have been hit with a triple whammy in the recent Budget of Broken Promises: a new Family Farm Tax which will decimate the family farm; pulling the rug from under farmers’ feet in the form of ending the Basic Payment System early; and taxing farm vehicles as company cars.
Graham has been highly vocal in his disappointment at the measures and has raised it in Parliament, spoken with farmers over the past few weeks, organised a petition against the measures which has seen over 760 signatures in its first week and now met with farmers in Parliament.
With 20,000 farmers and supporters descended on London, Graham took the opportunity to work with the NFU to invite around twenty farmers to tell him and Bridlington and the Wolds MP Charlie Dewhirst about their experiences, and what the next steps should be.
It was clear that farmers could be devastated by these measures, with everyone in the room farming land which will eventually be subject to inheritance tax, making for a grim future for family farms in East Yorkshire.
Despite the Chancellor claiming that 73% of farms would be unaffected, that is simply not the reality of farming in the UK.
Excluding farms under 5 acres, the average size of a farm in the UK is 250 acres according to the NFU – and with land prices at around £10,000-£15,000 and acre, the issue is clearly much bigger than the Treasury estimates.
At present, farms benefit from Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief, which means farms can be passed from one generation to the next entire, without the land being subject to inheritance tax of 40%.
Going forward, Graham will work with local farmers to press the government at every opportunity, making the case that family farms aren’t like any other business – just as Sir Keir Starmer said to the NFU Conference in 2023.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch has committed the Conservatives to reversing the Family Farm Tax in government, but in the meantime Graham will be making the case for an immediate reversal.
Graham said, “I don’t know who dreamt up this scheme to tax the family farm out of existence, but whoever they are doesn’t have any experience of rural life.
"It takes a special incompetence and cruelty to hammer those who feed us and make it impossible for family farms to continue.
"These aren’t plutocrats, they’re hard working people who are out every day, in the freezing cold, to put food on our plates and supermarket shelves for very little money.
"Labour is pulling the rug from under farmers’ feet and if Labour doesn’t reverse this, it’s everyone in the country who will pay the price.”
