Chancellor John Healey delivered his first Budget without mentioning farms or farmers even once, according to an opinion piece by Dillon Smith, head of policy at the Conservative Environment Network.
The Budget red book offered barely any new support to farmers, while the core farming and nature budget continues to be eroded by inflation. Research from the Conservative Environment Network shows there has been an over £500 million cut in real terms since 2021 - a fifth lower than if it had been protected.
Funding Cuts and Their Impact
This funding helps farmers feed the nation, restore nature, and build resilience to increasingly frequent flooding and droughts increased by climate change. Despite what the funding does for food security, adapting to climate change, and protecting nature, it continues to be neglected by the Government.
This has real-life consequences for farmers whose finances are already in a perilous state after the chaotic six-hour window they were given for new funding applications last month.
Family Farm Tax Concerns
The 'Family Farm Tax' also threatens farmers hoping to pass their farms and their knowledge to future generations to continue being the stewards of the countryside.
The Budget said precious little, with no recognition of the role farmers play in boosting food security, restoring nature, or protecting the land from flooding. There was also no support after the flooding, heatwaves, and droughts that have destroyed farmers' livelihoods.
Nature Restoration Neglected
No attempt was made to protect the funding for nature restoration from corrosive inflation, at a time when biodiversity loss is so stark. Native British species like turtle doves are still being lost, and peatlands and chalk streams that once inspired English poets and writers are still disappearing.
Burnham and Healey could have shown they have learned from Keir Starmer's failures, but as farmers and nature prepare for a difficult winter, they have once again been left out in the cold.
