This week the House of Commons saw the first set of Treasury questions of this parliamentary session. Every morning a different government department takes questions from MPs, and on Tuesday it fell to the Chancellor to be the torchbearer for the government.聽
This was the first outing in the Commons for the newly-appointed Treasury team, created by the Prime Minister after his Cabinet reshuffle following former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner's resignation.聽
The NFU鈥檚 external affairs team prepared the ground ahead of the question session, engaging with sympathetic MPs to secure questions on the family farm tax and the devastating impact it will have on the industry. Our efforts were fruitful.聽
Impact on investment
The parliamentary sparring started in earnest when David Chadwick, Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, asked if the Chancellor will meet with representatives of the farming community to discuss the impact of the family farm tax. The Chancellor is yet to meet with the NFU despite repeated calls for this to happen.聽
Mr Chadwick also asked why farmers are being forced to pay for bad governance. 聽
Conservative MP for East Hampshire Damian Hinds followed up in quick succession, highlighting that 80% of farmers have deferred investment since last year鈥檚 budget. The policy, argued Mr Hinds, should be reconsidered to support investment, productivity and economic growth.聽
New analysis
John Cooper, Conservative MP for Dumfries and Galloway, raised the dreadful human impact the tax is having on farming communities in his Scottish constituency. He also raised the recent CenTax (Centre for the Analysis of Taxation) report, which said that reforms could be better targeted to protect working farms.聽
Liberal Democrat Deputy Leader Daisy Cooper again pushed her proposals for a 鈥渇amily farm test鈥�, similar to policies implemented in France and Ireland, which she says will stop big equity firms investing in land for tax purposes and protect family farms.聽
Despite the arguments put forward, Chief Secretary to the Treasury James Murray cited his meeting with the farming organisations including the NFU, stating that "the government continues to believe that the approach we have set out is the right one".聽
It is encouraging to have MPs speaking in the Chamber of behalf of farmers across the UK.聽
The Stop the Family Farm Tax campaign continues as we look to the Finance Bill. Despite what the Minister said, this tax will do great damage to British agriculture.聽
