As an arable farmer, Olly Harrison’s WhatsApp messages are normally concerned with the more mundane matters of working the land: logistics, supplies and the occasional chat about the weather. So when a recent message came through from Andy Burnham, it was more than a little unexpected. The personal touch wasn’t just the act of a politician on the campaign trail – Burnham was fighting the Makerfield byelection at the time – Harrison said it showed a change of approach to farmers.
Under the Starmer administration farmers had been hit with new taxes, including a loathed inheritance tax. Harrison said the dialogue between the government and agricultural workers had been nonexistent. Now Burnham appears to have sown the seeds for a better relationship, telling farmers on a visit this summer that government had a “long way to go to build back trust” with farmers, and the UK needed to “guarantee our own food production”.
Harrison was one of a group of activist farmers who took umbrage at the 2024 budget. His fellow protesters, who included Jeremy Clarkson, rolled furiously into Westminster on tractors after the chancellor’s announcement to yell and beep at No 10 and the Treasury. Their protests garnered crowds of tens of thousands, arguing the new taxes would lead to the closure of farms as the tax bill would significantly outstrip revenue.
Since then the group become a thorn in the government’s side, following former environment secretary Steve Reed when he spoke at farming events in order to beep their tractor horns loud enough to drown him out. Burnham’s team appears to have weighed the benefits of keeping this noisy, tractor-driving community of dissenters on side and is actively working to repair the fractured relationship. It may already be yielding results, as there is no planned protest by farmers at this year’s budget.
A bridge may have been built, but is by no means guaranteed to last. Last year, a record 6,300 forestry, fishing and farming businesses closed, according to the Office for National Statistics. This has been linked by some to the tax changes, though extreme weather and rising inflation have undoubtedly played a part.
Former Labour cabinet minister Lord Blunkett recently said at a Countryside Alliance event: “It’s very strange because we’ve never won so many rural seats since 1945 – around 135 Labour MPs are either rural or semi-rural – and their voices need to be heard much more clearly.” It seems Burnham is trying to do this. The Mail on Sunday recently reported that a U-turn on the inheritance tax is on the table for the next budget. Government sources have confirmed to the Guardian that it is a possibility and that ministers are looking for a sweetener for farmers.
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