The government has missed a golden opportunity to reset its relationship with the countryside, according to the Countryside Alliance, which says the Family Farm Tax remains in place despite a pledge to revisit it.
In an opinion piece for the Daily Express, Mo Metcalf-Fisher, director of external affairs at the Countryside Alliance, said rural organisations had scoured the Chancellor's 166-page Budget and found little to welcome.
Ten Policies Ignored
Earlier this month, the Countryside Alliance wrote to the Chancellor urging a first step towards a rural reset. It proposed ten practical policies, including ditching the Family Farm Tax, scrapping VAT on heating oil, and reducing the National Insurance burden on rural businesses.
Metcalf-Fisher said the government ignored virtually all of them. Extending small business rates relief could help, but hikes in employment costs may offset any benefit.
Pubs Under Pressure
A publican in touch with the Alliance said the minimum wage increase would affect staffing during less predictable, tourist-heavy months. The rise in beer duty would force him to absorb the loss, meaning more work for less money.
The temporary extension to the red diesel duty cut is helpful, but it will end in July next year, just as harvest begins. Suspending tariffs on kerosene heating oil and fertiliser is welcome, but it is unclear how it will reach consumers.
Farm Tax and Funding Cuts
Before becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham pledged to revisit the Family Farm Tax, but he has failed to do so, the article states. The tax prevents farmers from making decisions about their livelihoods and hampers the government's growth mission.
Farmers who diversified into holiday lets now face another increase to property income tax, further threatening their viability. DEFRA's funding for 2027-28 has been cut by £100m, following the Sustainable Farming Incentive application window closing in under six hours last month.
Metcalf-Fisher concluded that scrapping the Family Farm Tax is the only way to show the government is serious about a rural reset, and that farmers have no intention of giving up.
