Starmer accused of ‘holding farmers in contempt’ after sustainable farming incentive cancelled | EUROtoday

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Ministers are being accused of “treating farmers with contempt” after halting purposes for a significant post-Brexit fee scheme in what’s already being dubbed as “a war on farmers”.

Tory chief Kemi Badenoch launched a blistering assault after Labour introduced late on Tuesday night time that it could cancel the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), simply six weeks earlier than farmers are set to file their tax returns.

The transfer comes after Labour had already enraged the farming neighborhood by dragging them into paying inheritance tax for the primary time with a 20 per cent dying obligation levy on farms price £2 million or extra.

The Conservative chief, who additionally took the struggle to Sir Keir in Prime Minister’s Questions, stated “Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves do not care about rural communities. The Labour government treats farmers with contempt.”

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Farmers are livid with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) resolution, which National Farmers’ Union president Tom Bradshaw stated was “another shattering blow”.

Labour has already seen huge protests from farmers with lots of of tractors descending on Westminster and the most recent growth threatens additional motion.

But throughout PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer stated that the Tories had cancelled the scheme in 2022 and 2023 “without six weeks notice”.

He stated: “The SFI schemes have operated to give considerable support so far. There have been a number of schemes which were closed and replaced. We do support farmers, we will be putting more details forward at the spending review.”

The fee scheme which pays farmers in England for environmental practices akin to insecticide-free farming, planting wildflower strips and managing ponds and hedgerows, was absolutely allotted for this yr.

But the federal government has stopped accepting new purposes for the motivation – the most important a part of the brand new environmental land administration (ELM) programme which changed EU-era farming subsidies – with speedy impact.

“This is another shattering blow to English farms, delivered yet again with no warning, no understanding of the industry and a complete lack of compassion or care,” said Mr Bradshaw.

He said the industry had warned “time and time once more” that large parts of the SFI were poorly designed, and he accused Defra of being a “failing division” with farmers left paying the worth for chaos.

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“The terrible dilemma now confronted by many farmers is whether or not to show their backs on environmental work and simply farm as onerous as they will to outlive.”

Defra stated 50,000 farm companies and greater than half of all farmed land was now in environmental land administration schemes, which have an total finances of £5 billion over two years.

Any new SFI provide wouldn’t be out there till spring 2026, leaving most farmers going through an 18-month hole earlier than recent funds.

Martin Lines, chief govt of the Nature Friendly Farming Network (NFFN) has warned the transfer will “leave some of them in a really difficult financial position”.

“This has left many farmers feeling frustrated and let down, with no clear opportunity to be rewarded for delivering public goods in the near future,” he stated.

Robbie Moore, Shadow Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs questioned how farmers can count on to plan for the long run “when this vindictive Labour government change the rules without any notice”.

“Hugely damaging for business, for food production and for the environment – and of course detrimental for our farmers own health and wellbeing,” he stated.

Tory shadow Defra secretary Victoria Atkins has additionally spoken out: “I didn’t think this Labour government could show more disdain for British farming and the countryside – and then they go and do this.”

And the chair of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, Alistair Carmichael, described the transfer as “another very regrettable decision” by Defra.

“Farmers are already beneath immense strain from an ideal storm of hostile circumstances. For many farmers, this newest transfer by the federal government will solely add to the uncertainty and insecurity of their livelihoods and threaten their monetary viability,” he stated.