Labour minister squirms as she’s grilled over Keir Starmer farmer snub: ‘Nothing to say!’.l
The Transport Secretary says she’s not concerned about the prospect of empty shelves amid farmers’ anger over the budget inheritance tax raid.
Protesters rallied outside a Labour conference in Wales (Image: Getty)
Transport Secretary Louise Haigh has insisted she is not concerned about the prospect of empty shelves because of farmer strikes.
She defended Labour’s inheritance tax raid on farmers as “fair and proportionate” ahead of mass protests this week.
Ms Haigh said the government “recognise the difficult situation” many farmers are in “but we think the choices we set out in the budget are fair and proportionate”.
She added that a “major package of measures” has been set out to support all farmers.
Speaking to Sky, she said: “We put forward food security as a priority and will work with farmers and the supply chain in order to ensure that.”
Asked why the Prime Minister had “nothing to say” to protesting farmers yesterday, Ms Haigh said: “Colleagues have met with representatives of the farming community, and we do understand concerns.”
A row has erupted over the new taxes for farms worth more than £1 million, exacerbated by uncertainty about the figures Ms Reeves based the decision on.
Treasury data shows that around three-quarters of farmers will pay nothing in inheritance tax as a result of the controversial changes announced in the Budget last month.
However, farmers have challenged the figures, pointing instead to data from the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs which suggests 66% of farm businesses are worth more than the £1 million threshold at which inheritance tax will now need to be paid.
Sir Keir did not mention the inheritance tax explicitly in his speech, but said he would defend the “tough decisions” his Government has made.
