As we enter the final stretch of the campaign I’ll write some posts on key policy topics for the election. First up, our rural economy - namely farming, and all the other businesses which employ people in Wiltshire.
The farming economy has altered significantly because of Brexit. Agriculture was one of the main reasons to leave the EU - the Common Agricultural Policy was a racket maintained by and for French farmers, to the exclusion of exporters in the developing world, and it simply subsidised landowners for holding land. The new UK system pays farmers to deliver public goods, including environmental stewardship and food security.
Nevertheless, any transition is uncomfortable and this one hasn’t been easy. The shift to ‘public money for public goods’ remains too clunky and bureaucratic for farmers. New rules are not made in time for farms to decide on future investments.
I fully recognise how new frictions with the European market have damaged some food and farming businesses in the UK. We now have positive trade deals with other countries, with vast new export markets available to British farmers, but we still need better access to the massive (but still sadly protectionist) market right on our doorstep.
And the old problems of the British farming model remain: a cartel of supermarkets dictate prices and terms to farmers, and we lack a proper regional food processing and distribution system (the glory of the French model).
All that said, we are on our way to making a far better system than the old one, and this election is an opportunity to decide which way we go. Some commitments my Party is making:
- An investment plan and a legally binding target for food security, so that the primary purpose of farming remains food production
- Streamline permissions for new agricultural buildings and capital improvements to farms
- 50% of the public sector food procurement budget to be spent on high quality local food
- Keep the Agricultural Property Relief i.e. exemption from death duties, so children can inherit farms
- An additional £1bn for the farming budget
- Continued focus on rural crime, including more investment in rural policing (already improving in Wiltshire with our Conservative Police and Crime Commissioner).
None of these commitments are echoed by the other parties. Labour’s manifesto has a total of 87 words on their plans for farming, which mostly consist of promises to end the badger cull and trail hunting (both of which we would keep). As for Reform - my particular headache, given their appeal to former Conservative voters - I note that Nigel Farage has argued for trade deals that would import food made to lower standards than ours (chlorinated chicken, anyone?) which we would absolutely not do.
Beyond agriculture the opportunities for the Wiltshire economy are huge. I am enormously optimistic for young people growing up here - if we can get the infrastructure right. We live in proximity to some world-class centres of the new economy - London, Reading, Swindon and Bristol - and we have some amazing pockets of innovation right here in Wiltshire, particularly clustered around the agritech and cyber industries.
Conservatives are introducing a major shift in funding and support towards Further Education and vocational training, with 100,000 new apprenticeships in our manifesto. We have cut taxes on R&D, on employment and on self-employment - with further cuts to come, including the abolition of NICs for the self-employed. We believe unashamedly in wealth creation, unlike Labour and the Lib Dems who would - by their own admission - increase taxes on savings, investment and property.
Finally, a word on pubs, perhaps the archetypal rural business. We have already cut business rates on pubs by 75% and slapped higher duties on supermarket beers to protect pubs from being undercut. We will not introduce any more beer or cider duty, and we will continue to support community-owned pubs (like the brilliant Silks on the Downs in the Ogbournes, winner of a big grant from Government a few years ago and now thriving).
Tomorrow’s post: Protecting our rivers!
