I thank the farmers who visited me in the House for the good and respectful conversation that we had. I reflected their concerns to Ministers, and will continue to do so.
The Conservative Government trashed our economy. Mortgage rates went up, interest rates went up, prices went up, and taxes on working people, including farm workers, went up. The Conservative party smashed public services, with unprecedented and often unnecessary cuts to the services that our country relies on, including farmers—our roads potholed; GP surgeries under-resourced; a lack of mental health provision; schools struggling, sometimes crumbling; housing unaffordable, especially in rural areas. I could go on.
The Conservatives dashed the hopes of farmers when they were in government. They tried to sell out farmers with their trade deals, often gleeful about cheaper imports or hinting at support for chemically treated or hormone-injected meat. They gave farmers the chaos of delayed stop-start support schemes; cuts to the police, including rural policing; neglect of flooding in rural areas; and the incompetence of not even managing to spend £300 million that they had not managed to cut.
Now the Conservatives speak—perhaps exaggeratedly —about the impact of this Government’s plans. Where was their outrage when 12,000 farmers and agribusinesses were forced out of business from 2010 onwards, or when services were being cut by their Government? They are unabashed in their defence of the status quo on inheritance tax, which means that they are content to see the top 7% of the wealthiest claimants account for 40% of the total value of APR, costing the taxpayer £219 million. They are unashamed in their overall position on a Budget that, as a result of the tough decisions taken by my right hon. Friend the Chancellor, has provided £5 billion to the farming budget over two years, the largest ever budget for sustainable food production, £60 million for farmers affected by last winter’s wet weather and £208 million to protect against future diseases.
Contrary to some recent campaigning, Labour is investing in British farming. Equally, the Government’s Budget is investing in our entire nation—in our economy and our public services—and we will build the growth and prosperity that we all rely on. We have made our decisions; now Opposition Members, especially Conservative Members, must justify why they continue to support the status quo, why they oppose our Budget with its funding for farming, and why they rail against our Budget’s investment in the economy. If they oppose this, they owe it to people outside this House to say which taxes they would increase, which public services they would cut and how much they would increase borrowing by.