Graham is calling on the Government to give farmers and rural businesses the confidence to invest as he gathers evidence from across rural East Yorkshire about what is holding its economy back.
Farmers responding to Graham’s Rural Survey have raised the cost of fertiliser and other inputs, regulation, uncertainty over farm support and inheritance tax, with some questioning whether there will be a viable farm to pass on to the next generation.
Now Graham is backing calls for the Prime Minister to scrap the remaining Family Farm Tax at the Autumn Budget, arguing that money should be going into farms and rural businesses rather than being held back to meet future tax bills.
But Graham says the argument is about much more than inheritance tax.
Every pound invested on a farm has the potential to travel through the rural economy. New machinery means business for agricultural engineers and dealers. New buildings mean work for local contractors. Investment in drainage and reservoirs helps farms withstand increasingly difficult weather while supporting the businesses which design, build and maintain them.
And successful farms support hauliers, vets, agricultural merchants, food processors and jobs in communities across East Yorkshire.
That is why Graham believes the test for Government should be simple: does a policy make it easier or harder for people in rural Britain to invest, employ people and build for the future?
A letter from Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins and Harriet Cross MP to the Prime Minister argues that Labour’s inheritance tax changes are already failing that test.
It cites CBI Investment research which found 55 per cent of businesses affected by changes to Business Property Relief and 49 per cent affected by changes to Agricultural Property Relief have paused or cancelled planned investments.
The Conservatives have called on the Prime Minister to reverse the changes to both reliefs in full at the Autumn Budget.
Graham has campaigned against the Family Farm Tax since it was announced, taking the concerns of East Yorkshire farmers to Parliament and backing their campaign in Westminster.
That campaign has already helped force the Government to change course, increasing the amount of qualifying agricultural and business assets which can be passed on tax-free.
Graham welcomed that move but says Ministers now need to finish the job.
At the same time, his Rural Survey is looking beyond the Family Farm Tax to ask a bigger question: what is stopping rural East Yorkshire from thriving?
Graham wants to hear from farmers, rural businesses and people living in villages about the pressures they face and the changes which would make the biggest difference.
Their answers will form the basis of Graham’s case to Ministers for what rural East Yorkshire needs from Government.
Graham said:
“Rural East Yorkshire doesn’t want special treatment. We want the chance to invest, grow and get on.
“This is about much more than one tax. When a farmer invests in machinery, a new building, better drainage or a reservoir, that money doesn’t stop at the farm gate. It supports engineers, contractors, hauliers and jobs throughout our rural economy.
“That’s why the Family Farm Tax is so wrong-headed. Farmers should be investing their money in producing food, making their businesses more productive and preparing for the future, not putting it aside to pay a tax bill.
“Labour says it wants growth in every part of Britain. Good. So do I. But if you want rural growth, you have to understand how the rural economy actually works.
“The Secretary of State responsible for farming represents a Liverpool constituency and the Farming Minister represents a Portsmouth constituency. That’s not their fault. But they don’t have thousands of farmers and rural businesses on their doorstep telling them what I hear in East Yorkshire.
“So, I’m going to help them.
“I’m asking farmers, rural businesses and people living in our villages to tell me what’s holding them back. What’s stopping you investing? What’s making it harder to employ someone? What would give you the confidence to plan for the next ten or twenty years?
“Tell me, and I’ll take your answers to Ministers.
“I want our farms producing food, our rural businesses creating jobs and our villages to have a future. Government should help make that happen, then get out of the way and let people get on with it.”
