We’re a father-and-daughter duo working on our sheep and beef farm in north Devon. Despite our farm being relatively small, we too have been feeling the immediate stress and worry of Labour’s budget announcements, and thousands of others are similarly feeling the strain (Tax changes in budget last straw for UK farmers after ‘years of being squeezed’, 8 November).
Mental health has always been a massive issue in the farming industry. There are so many uncontrollable variables to contend with: disease, climate, supermarket prices, not to mention all of the uncertainties following Brexit. We’re literally counting trees and measuring hedgerows in a bid to claw back money lost since leaving the EU, as if we somehow need to prove we’re custodians of the countryside. A complete mockery.
And now farmers have suddenly been told that we will have to magic up hundreds of thousands of pounds to keep on farming our land into the future. Where do they think this is going to come from? We’re not wealthy and our hours worked don’t come close to minimum wage. The farming families that I know all work other jobs to help keep their farms afloat. Yes, farms are asset-rich – but please don’t call us millionaires: we don’t get to see that money. It’s a livelihood and way of life that has passed down – something we’ve grown up doing and been involved with since we were born – and we take great pride in producing high-welfare, high-quality food.
This is far worse than feeling angry at the liars in Westminster; we feel sick about our future and don’t want to see our livelihoods disappear. We’re told there may be ways to gift things over, but this takes seven years to take effect. For the majority of us, our parents are getting on in years, some are ill – life insurance isn’t even an option – so are we just supposed to pray? Labour told us before the election that it wouldn’t change inheritance tax relief: it even said the rumours were “desperate nonsense”.
Food security is a serious issue. We all need to eat. I’ve heard people say the government only values its farmers in times of war – but by that time it’s too late. We must make this government think again and realise the implications for the whole country. No farmers, no food. This affects everyone.
Cheryl Cottle-Hunkin
Lib Dem group leader, Torridge district council
• Have an opinion on anything you’ve read in the Guardian today? Please email us your letter and it will be considered for publication in our letters section.
