The Farmers Fight

Here are the views of the Liberal Democrats on this:

www.libdems.org.uk/news/article/the-family-farm-tax-explained

But the Family Farm Tax is only expected to raise around £115 million a year – less than 0.01% of government spending and less than 0.3% of all the tax rises announced by Rachel Reeves in this Budget.

The worrying aspect of this tax is that, if farming families are liable to pay it and are only just scraping a profit from the farm, enough to live on, they will be forced to sell to these huge landowners and to the private equity firms which will want to increase their holdings.

Not all of these will be intent on producing food, on sustainability or the environment; not all will be like Sir James Dyson who is concerned about these matters.
They will find ways of evading paying any tax, including income tax, so it will be a self-defeating move.

Some will just stop producing food altogether as they may not be interested in farming - what then?
Where will our food come from?

We should be increasing the percentage of food we produce in the UK, not putting it at risk.

silverlining48

Our farms only produce 60% of our food and have to import 40%. The majority of which is vegetables.
Why on earth are we not self sufficient in vegetables?

Yes, Maybee exactly so!

Whoops, I didn't mean to quote Silver lining!

I did wonder Foxie

foxie48

silverlining48

Our farms only produce 60% of our food and have to import 40%. The majority of which is vegetables.
Why on earth are we not self sufficient in vegetables?

Yes, Maybee exactly so!

A little investigation will tell you why.

For once I find myself agreeing with a Lib Dem MP.

Ed Davey shared the stage with Jeremy Clarkson at the march this week.

foxie48

Whoops, I didn't mean to quote Silver lining!

😁
I did wonder!

GrannyGravy13

For once I find myself agreeing with a Lib Dem MP.

Ed Davey shared the stage with Jeremy Clarkson at the march this week.

That was in reply to Allira

So, if these wealthy farmers decide to sell up, and the next generation doesn't want to take over, what happens if even wealthier "foreigners" come along to buy up the land, not for farming but fir investment? We've seen similar happen in London with rich Indians, Russians, Qataris, Chinese etc. They don't care if they are heavily taxed by the government, and they certainly don’t care about the countryside in terms of agriculture. They'll be jumping for joy. Be careful what you wish for.

escaped

So, if these wealthy farmers decide to sell up, and the next generation doesn't want to take over, what happens if even wealthier "foreigners" come along to buy up the land, not for farming but fir investment? We've seen similar happen in London with rich Indians, Russians, Qataris, Chinese etc. They don't care if they are heavily taxed by the government, and they certainly don’t care about the countryside in terms of agriculture. They'll be jumping for joy. Be careful what you wish for.

The land will still be used mainly for farming, it will just be farmed by tenants. They will be getting an income from their 'investment' in the form of rentals, too.

What else would all those foreign investors' do with it?

MaizieD

escaped

So, if these wealthy farmers decide to sell up, and the next generation doesn't want to take over, what happens if even wealthier "foreigners" come along to buy up the land, not for farming but fir investment? We've seen similar happen in London with rich Indians, Russians, Qataris, Chinese etc. They don't care if they are heavily taxed by the government, and they certainly don’t care about the countryside in terms of agriculture. They'll be jumping for joy. Be careful what you wish for.

The land will still be used mainly for farming, it will just be farmed by tenants. They will be getting an income from their 'investment' in the form of rentals, too.

What else would all those foreign investors' do with it?

Not necessarily.

What do they do with it then, Allira?

If London is anything to go buy, they don't do anything. They buy, they invest, they just own.

They're not going to leave a source of income lying idle, are they, escaped?

Houses are a different matter.

MaizieD

What do they do with it then, Allira?

I wouldn’t trust them to farm and be guardians of the countryside.

How many large properties purchased by foreign investors/corporations for investment remain empty in London. I recall constant complaints and calls for these to be compulsory taken into public ownership on GN threads many a time.

MaizieD

What do they do with it then, Allira?

They buy up London property and leave it empty.

The Government wants more housing to be built and will give the green light for change of use; the Green Belt here has disappeared and is disappearing. More houses will soon be built on what are fields of sheep at the moment.

I am amazed that posters are unperturbed by thought of more agricultural land being hoovered up by large investment companies, many from overseas, at a time when we should be looking to ensure as much as our food supply is within these shores.

We should not be selling off farmland for it then to be sold for housing, use brownfield sites We know why these sites are unfavourable, it costs to clear them up!

It's quite astonishing!

Also astonishing is the fact that people don't realise we can't grow some of the more exotic fruits and vegetables, or even the everyday bananas and citrus fruits, in this country.

Many Kent apple orchards were grubbed up years ago, too, when we were in the EU.

I'm in Devon/Cornwall region. Foreign ownership accounts for well over 10,000 properties here. The expensive estates. Mainly owners in South-East Asia and the Middle East.
If they buy up farms, of course they will have no interest in the income. They don't need it!

Allira

MaizieD

What do they do with it then, Allira?

They buy up London property and leave it empty.

The Government wants more housing to be built and will give the green light for change of use; the Green Belt here has disappeared and is disappearing. More houses will soon be built on what are fields of sheep at the moment.

Sorry, I thought we were talking about foreign investors who are buying UK land.

MaizieD

Allira

MaizieD

What do they do with it then, Allira?

They buy up London property and leave it empty.

The Government wants more housing to be built and will give the green light for change of use; the Green Belt here has disappeared and is disappearing. More houses will soon be built on what are fields of sheep at the moment.

Sorry, I thought we were talking about foreign investors who are buying UK land.

We are.
Investments in property and in land.

Allira

MaizieD

Allira

MaizieD

What do they do with it then, Allira?

They buy up London property and leave it empty.

The Government wants more housing to be built and will give the green light for change of use; the Green Belt here has disappeared and is disappearing. More houses will soon be built on what are fields of sheep at the moment.

Sorry, I thought we were talking about foreign investors who are buying UK land.

We are.
Investments in property and in land.

I'm well aware of high end 'investment' properties being left empty by their overseas owners, but we are talking about land, aren't we.

All I'm saying is that if it's farmland it's likely to be continued to be farmed by tenants. What else would they do with it?

Housing is irrelevant to this topic.

Housing is irrelevant to this topic

Actually MaizieD it isn’t as the Deputy PM has stated repeatedly that this Government will allow building homes on greenfield sites. I wouldn’t be surprised if Labour allow PDR’s on farmland.

What else would they do with it?
Leisure and sporting activities, and maybe for themselves occasionally at that. Often located by rivers or coastal areas.
I'm not putting agents' details on here, but there are Devon farms on the market, in the millions, where the agricultural part is now mentioned as minimal compared with other opportunities.

GrannyGravy13

^Housing is irrelevant to this topic^

Actually MaizieD it isn’t as the Deputy PM has stated repeatedly that this Government will allow building homes on greenfield sites. I wouldn’t be surprised if Labour allow PDR’s on farmland.

It is when we are talking about land sales to foreign investors.