APR blow is “worse than Brexit” for farmers, says expert

A professional advising farmers has warned the impact of Labour’s changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) will be far-reaching for rural communities, describing the move as “worse than Brexit.”

Speaking to Farmers Weekly at the Northern Farming Conference yesterday (6 November), Andrew Entwistle, rural land partner at consultant and land agent George F White, said the implications were “simply enormous”.

“It’s not just about tax; it’s about families and markets,” he added. “Many of my clients don’t understand quite how serious it could be.”

See also: Farmers plan mass demo at Northern Farming Conference

Outside Hexham Mart in Northumberland, the venue for the conference, a small group of about 50 farmers held a protest over the measures in the Budget, holding “No Farmers, No Food, No Future” placards.

The turnout was far smaller than the hundreds anticipated, with some attendees noting that farmers may be saving their energy for the upcoming lobbying event in London on 19 November.

With tractors absent and the expected mass demonstration failing to materialise, Pip Robson, a mixed arable farmer from Northumberland, said: “I was expecting a much bigger turnout. A lot of people are waiting for the London protest, but we need to make our voices heard here too.

“These politicians inside need to realise how serious this is. They come here and waffle on, telling lies like they do in Parliament.”

Andrew Moralee, owner-farmer from Durham, said: “The politicians want to stand up and give it big, but they don’t know what it’s like in the little areas.

“They are totally disconnected from the normal working person. Farmers will plod on, we are resilient. But this has pushed some farmers to the maximum. Farmers aren’t usually protesters.

“I think farmers should be a lot more militant and stand up for themselves, because we are too soft, too gentlemanly, and that’s not going to get us anywhere. It’s time we stood up.”

Inside the conference, Daniel Zeichner, Defra farming minister, acknowledged the sector’s ongoing struggles, but refused to apologise for abandoning previous Labour commitments not to make changes to APR.

“When we came into power, we discovered a £22b black hole in the public finances,” he said. “The only apology that’s due is from the previous government.”

Mr Zeichner also told attendees of the event that he hoped they would go away with a “positive message” from the recent budget – a comment met with audible scoffs.