A car carrying Steve Reed, the Secretary of State for Environment, Food (Image: Getty Images)
Angry farmers gearing up for another day of protests tomorrow have claimed Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour Government is guilty of a "catastrophic failure" which is jeopardising the nation’s food security.
Farmers to Action also said the Prime Minister and his administration has demonstrated a "glaring lack of understanding" which demonstrates that he is "completely out of touch”".
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Environment Secretary Steve Reed has apologised to farmers over decisions the Government "had to take" to fix the public finances as it stands firm on contentious changes to inheritance tax.
In a speech to the Oxford Farming Conference today, Mr Reed set out reforms to boost profitability in the farming sector by backing British produce and ensuring fair supply chains in a bid to reset relations with the sector.
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Mr Reed said that while the primary purpose of farming is food production, farmers must be supported to restore nature and diversify their incomes to achieve long-term food security.
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READ MORE: Moment furious farmers heckle Labour minister at huge tractor tax protest
Welcome to Oxford, Steve Reed #StopTheFamilyFarmTax ! pic.twitter.com/DG6nAzrTY3
— Mo M Fisher (@mometfisher) January 9, 2025
But anger over measures in last year's Budget, including introducing inheritance tax on farm businesses worth more than ￡1 million, overshadowed the announcement, with Mr Reed heckled with shouts of "shame on you" as he left the venue.
In a direct message to Mr Reed, a Farmers to Action spokesman said: "While your speech outlines a vision for farming and food security, it starkly highlights how disconnected you and your government are from the reality farmers face every day."
Policies such as the recent changes to Inheritance Tax (IHT) were not just "ill-conceived" but also dangerous, the spokesman claimed.
They explained: "Your decision to implement IHT will force family farms to sell their land to pay this punitive tax, dismantling generations of resilience and hard work.
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Environment Secretary Steve Reed speaking during a press conference at Oxford Farming Conference at (Image: PA)
"These farms are the backbone of our food supply chain. Without them, who will produce the food that keeps this nation fed?
"Your government’s actions are undermining our domestic food production and leaving us dangerously reliant on imports. This isn’t just bad policy - it’s a catastrophic failure to protect the nation’s food security."
Mr Reed’s speech, which had sought to highlight the historical resilience of farmers, had been overshadowed by a "glaring lack of understanding of modern farming challenges”, the statement continued.
The spokesman stressed: "Setting foot on a farm for the first time yesterday does not qualify you to speak on behalf of an industry you barely know.
"Farmers face volatile input costs, unfair trade deals, mounting bureaucracy, and weather challenges daily.
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Police officers surround the car of Environment Secretary Steve Reed (Image: PA)
"Meanwhile, the IHT land grab your recent budget, shows your government remains completely out of touch with our sector.”
Mr Reed’s claim that food security was national security had been contradicted by his words, the spokesman insisted.
He continued: "By imposing IHT and failing to address unfair trade practices, you are directly threatening the stability of our food system. British farmers are being driven out of business, leading us toward empty shelves and skyrocketing food prices. This is not a distant possibility - it is an imminent crisis.
"Minister, your vision of a 'New Deal for Farmers' will remain hollow rhetoric without immediate action to address these urgent issues. Farmers cannot innovate or diversify income when their businesses are collapsing under the weight of harmful policies."
British farmers were not just part of the UK’s past but also part of its future, Farming to Action’s statement pointed out.
He warned: "Your government’s actions are pushing us into a food emergency. Farmers feed the nation; it’s time for the government to step up and ensure they can continue to do so.
A farmer locks his tractor as he takes part in a protest outside the Oxford Farming Conference (Image: Getty Images)
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"Empty shelves are not an option. Decisive action is."
During his speech, Mr Reed repeated Labour's claims of a ￡22 billion black hole in the nation's finances left by the last government, saying: "We were shocked by the size of the financial black hole we were left to fill.
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"I'm sorry that some of the action we had to take shocked you in turn, but stable finances are the foundation of the economic growth needed."
Later asked by reporters to expand on what action he was apologising for, he said: "We didn't know the size of the financial black hole because the previous Government covered it up so we couldn't have known.
"So I'm sorry that we then had to take decisions that are very difficult for the sector because of what we inherited."