To support UK Farmers

[TheHateIsNotGood]

And due to KS's inability to face them in Wales today they are now thinking of going on strike. Because the govt are being too stubborn to reconsider how they apply IHT on working family farms. By all means close the loophole that allows the 'landed gentry' to take advantage of the agricultural exception but not with so blunt an instrument.

I was hoping to add a post to an existing thread but there isn't one despite it being headline news today.

What?

Yes okay but most farmers aren't in the south east making a good living.

It's like saying you have more expensive properties in the south east.

We do understand that the wealth is concentrated where you live.

You may think that Inheritance tax is irrelevant to you but food prices undoubtedly are relevant to all of us. Without farms there is no food security and we are all in trouble. You should care that an industry that is barely profitable for the vast majority is in a more precarious state than it has been for many many years. Inheritance tax will simply bring more farms to bankruptcy, push more farmers to take their own lives and prevent future generations from continuing a calling that they were born to continue. Your post sums up entirely why this ludicrous imposition has happened and equally why it is such an utterly stupid idea. Please educate yourself about where your food comes from and don’t focus on the huge grain farms in the south, don't focus on the huge inherited estates but condos on the smaller farms struggling to turn a profit because they still have huge value, at least on paper.

It really really isn’t going to be tenant farmers getting the chance to own. I wish it was. It will be big agricultural business, rollover money and still people like Clarkson.

@AuntyBumBum thank you for that - very interesting.

Did Prof Minford say what would happen to all the farmland in UK were his proposals to be adopted?

Aah, the politics of 'envy'. I remember back when the New Labour lot wanted to take out all the Uplands for any farming. My first thought was hasn't anyone thought about the sheep? For those not in the know. most sheep we eat needs an upland grandparent in their breeding in order to be able to withstand our fickle weather.

Even the foot and mouth epidemic didn't solve that, although a few farmers got out of the business and/or planned their sale of land. Such a shame all those dairy cows and beef cattle herds were lost too.

I still wonder who might turn out to counter-protest against the Farmers on the 19th?

It is the politics of envy

This government disgusts me

If Ukraine falls we'll be paying more again for our food. As will many countries who depend on their food production.

Because farms make a very low profit from a very high cost asset (expensive land)

Because the cost of the farm/business includes the houses where the family live which massively increases the value of the farm but often cannot practically be separated from the farm

Farmland in the Southeast is going to be built on, maybe not this year or next, but eventually it will either be developed for housing or for solar. So I hope you have your names down for allotments, because you will be eating what you can grow yourself, or buy.

That is what food security means. If you grow it, and harvest it, then you can eat it. But in urban areas, beware the idle people who can't be bothered to dig and sow, but feel free to harvest (steal) your hard work anyway. I hope everyone likes brassicas, and pigs.

Not as far as I'm aware. Some of their ideas are here:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-36161547

They are quite libertarian free-market champions. They would say (I guess) that the land will be used by whatever produces the most economic utility. A lot of farming (they would say) does not, so: move over, let someone else use it more profitably for the benefit of the economy, and we'll buy food in much more cheaply.

We'll see the land return to brambles, grasses, trees and weeds. There'll be no enjoyable country walks without farmers.

Haven’t read through the thread, apologies, but surely there is also an alternative agenda here? Land grab for housing? There was a labour think tank policy document which suggested compulsory purchase of farmland at agricultural land values for housing - regardless of planning permission status it couldn’t be sold at residential values.

labour are also banking on the general public not caring enough or realising the importance of this. As many on this thread show, people have no clue!

PS With Trump in the Whitehouse making the export of goods to that market a big problem (as well as Brexit impeding EU goods exports) Minford's plan might make more sense. And it is the logical conclusion of the Brexit vote unless as a country we want to get poorer.

Utter bollocks

Am I the only one to wish that Labour had taxed us mere mortals an extra £100 a year in income tax? All these rises and changes to National insurance and inheritance tax are going to do, is drive up prices. We are all going to be the poorer for it. Food prices will increase, hospitality prices, everything is going to be so much more expensive.

Dear farmers
You voted for brexit
TTFN

You can't possible be this naive.

You're an idiot and your username is very apt.

What? That's an appalling outcome for local manufacturing.
Do people support this outcome? How could it be a positive for the UK economy in the long run - sure the government gets more taxes in the short term but what about in the long term when they've ran all local businesses out?

See y'all on the 19th. I'll have the placard signed "Old Punks support Farmers". Might take a bag of manure with me...just a 'critical mass' suggestion. They grow roses in Downing St don't they? Happy to help and no tractor involved.

They're easier to shift than housing estates. Although not much.

Bit rude, and also not true.

The voting split amongst farmers was estimated to be similar to the wider population, with younger farmers mostly supportive of remaining in the EU.

The farming press was mostly pro EU, as was the NFU.

The area I live in is a huge rural agricultural area and as an area voted remain.

I don't think most posters here have ANY idea about the reality of life in a rural agricultural community. My local small town is proudly behind real food, slow food, local food and we have a fabulous Mediterranean deli too. The best butcher always has a queue. That said, we also don't have industrial working conditions.

Farming is low margin work, hence the need for cheap labour. It isn't an occupation we encourage our DC to take up. If we are successful, we want DC to do even better.

Just let the 'brexit happened just yesterday' posters vent their spleen. They are an inconsequential little bubble of angst beyond the rational thinking where most people get hungry and eat food.