Kingswinford and South Staffordshire MP Mike Wood has warned that Labour’s policies risk dismantling family farms and damaging rural communities across the country.
Speaking in Parliament, Mike said that Labour’s approach to farming is jeopardising stability, growth and sustainability, with decisions that directly harm farmers and the rural economy.
He criticised the Government’s sudden move to halt new applications for the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI), giving the National Farmers’ Union just half an hour’s notice despite previous promises of six weeks.
“Thousands of farmers were looking to the SFI for support, yet Labour chose short-term political convenience over long-term sustainability,” Mike said. “Our farmers deserve consistency and trust in the future, not abrupt cuts to vital programmes.”
Mike also condemned Labour’s plans to cut Agricultural Property Relief and Business Property Relief, which he warned would devastate family farms by making it impossible for them to be passed on to the next generation without crippling inheritance tax bills.
“According to the NFU, someone inheriting an average cereal farm faces 10 inheritance tax payments, each equal to 1.5 times annual profits. That is serfdom, not farming,” he told MPs.
He argued that the policies would force ordinary farmers to sell land or machinery, while “mega landowners” remained able to avoid paying their fair share. Combined with new compulsory purchase plans, he said, the effect would be to dismantle family farms and rural businesses.
“Rural Britain can thrive when farmers are supported, businesses are protected and communities grow stronger. Labour’s policies threaten that future,” Mike said. “We will continue to fight for our farming communities, including here in Kingswinford and South Staffordshire.”
