In recent weeks, we have seen what happens when you put the Member of Parliament for one of the least rural constituencies in the country in charge of our countryside.
After the wettest 18 months on record, farmers are in desperate need of support. Thousands of farms have been crippled by crop losses, many have witnessed untold damage to their fields and farmers are already fearing for their second year without any crop at all.
Yet under Environment Secretary Steve Reed’s control, ministers have been silent on vital support for farmers, the Secretary of State has been too weak to stand up to Treasury officials and the entire department seems like it has been at a standstill for the last four months.
Key funds such as the £50 million Farm Recovery Fund have not yet been distributed and just a fraction of the £75 million ring-fenced for internal drainage boards has been issued – despite these funds being allocated to farmers most impacted by wet weather earlier this year.
£220 million for farm innovation and productivity grants has not been re-committed by the new government.
And now, there are growing concerns that the farming budget is about to be slashed, leaving farmers across our nation facing a cliff edge.
While the first assault of this Labour government has been on pensioners right across the country, I fear that our hardworking farmers are next.
As we know, Labour could only bring itself to include 87 words in its manifesto on its plan for farmers, which stands in stark contrast to the previous government commitments to food security and our rural sector.
Whilst in government, we introduced the food security index and an annual food security report set out plans to introduce legally binding targets to enhance our food security. We established the ‘Farm to Fork Summit’, held at Downing Street, bringing together key stakeholders from across the food and farming sector.
Of course, there were challenges, but we were willing to look farmers in the eye, engage directly with the agricultural sector and make sure that its priorities were heard across the whole of government.
So why is the new Secretary of State not guaranteeing the same level of engagement for our farmers? Rumours surrounding next week’s budget might explain why.
As it stands, Steve Reed’s department is hinting at two disastrous moves for farmers. First, quietly forgetting about the farming support schemes allocated by the previous government, which would see crucial funding pulled. And second, cutting the baseline farming budget by £100 million, which I personally fear could be much more.
This is a cut British farmers cannot afford.
Under the previous government, unspent funds remained within the departmental budget, ensuring the farming budget did not face unnecessary financial gaps. The real risk under Steve Reed’s leadership is that DEFRA’s underspends will simply be returned to the Treasury, putting crucial schemes in jeopardy.
All of this lends itself to the broader concern about the Secretary of State’s ability to defend his department’s interests within Cabinet. Whether it’s negotiations on housing, energy security, or finance, the Secretary of State risks being viewed as the weak link at the Cabinet table—unable to secure the necessary funding and resources for our rural communities.
So let me give the government a warning. Farmers are friendly people, they’re happy to muck in and knuckle down when things get tough. But they can also see when they are being taken off the agenda and taken for granted.
So ahead of the budget, my message to the DEFRA Secretary of State is clear: pick up the phone, speak to the Chancellor, back British farming, and fight for the farming budget in full.