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The Tories hit out at Labour over its inheritance tax raid on farmers after agricultural leaders were left furious after a meeting with the Treasury.

Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said: “Contrary to the words that come out of Keir Starmer’s mouth, this is yet more confirmation that farmers are at the bottom of the list of Labour’s priorities. 

“The Government has been endlessly warned of the economic and emotional damage their family farm tax is having across the countryside, but once again they’ve arrogantly ignored the warnings and stuck pig-headedly to their ideological dogma.

 “Labour clearly don’t care about rural communities. If they did, they would follow our pledge to axe their family farm tax.”

Dozens of older people are protesting against mean testing the winter fuel payment outside Downing Street.

A petition by Age UK demanding a rethink by Rachel Reeves has amassed over 650,000 signatures.

Tom Bradshaw, President of the National Farmers Union, said: “Time is running out and the industry is in a desperate state about the changes that are coming”.

It follows a meeting with Treasury Secretary James Murray and Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner about the Government’s inheritance tax changes.

The NFU says the public and retailers have done nothing wrong.

The pubic’s support “is the way through this”.

The National Farmers Union hopes members of the public can help create political pressure for a U-turn on the Government’s inheritance tax raid.

The Treasury believe the tax exemptions they have given farming are “generous”, the NFU’s Tom Bradshaw says.

He said: “Unfortunately, today’s meeting – disappointment doesn’t even cover it. There is no movement. Government resolutely believe they are correct.”

The NFU has said backing Sir Keir Starmer into a corner through militant action is not the way forward.

Tom Bradshaw said “the message was clear today. Go away!”

His comments followed a meeting between Treasury Minister James Murray and farming bosses.

The government has insisted it is right on its changes to inheritance tax raid.

The NFU’s President Tom Bradsahw said the Government is “absolutely morally wrong” to carry out the inheritance tax raid with a disregard how that impacts people’s mental health and livelihood.

Could Briton be part of a European army?

This was once a radical idea but significant support has been uncovered by pollsters YouGov.

Nearly half of Britons (46%) would support the creation of an European army which included the UK, with fewer than three in 10 (28%) opposed.

This comes amid unprecedented uncertainty about the United States’ commitment to Nato.

Nearly four out of 10 respondents (39%) think European countries would do well at maintaining security without US backing. Just over one in three (35%) feel Europe would do badly.

But would Britons stump at the cash?

Three in 10 say they would be willing to pay more in tax to fund greater defence spending. But a majority (55%) are opposed.

National Farmers Union President Tom Bradshaw says there has been “no movement” from the Governemnt on inheritance tax following today’s treasury meeting.

He believes the reaction from farmers across the country will be one of “fury” “real anger” and “desperation”.

Reform leader Nigel Farage called for a new “spirit of optimism” to convince young people that hard work pays off – and encourage British people to have more babies.

You can read the full story here

The worries about national security are not just about defence. Will Britain be able to feed itself if Europe dissolves into chaos?

New House of Commons research shows the number of farms has fallen by almost a quarter in 18 years. Since 2005, there has been a fall of more than 30,000 farm holdings.

Farmers are warning that Rachel Reeves’s decision to hit more farms with inheritance tax will lead to families quitting the business. The pandemic gave us a taste of how quickly supermarket shelves can go bare if there is an interruption to supply chains.

Farmers deserve a seat at the table in national security decisions.

The concern about food mirrors the anxiety about the decline in Britain’s steelmaking capacity and vulnerabilities in energy generation. Being ready for conflict is not just about strengthening the armed forces – and there is huge alarm at the erosion of the UK’s warfighting capacity – but also involves addressing weaknesses a ruthless foe will want to exploit.

The leader of the Liberal Democrats has called for Parliament to return from its week-long recess to discuss plans to support Ukraine.

In a post on X, formerly Twitter, Sir Ed Davey said: “Keir Starmer should bring back Parliament to debate his plans to support Ukraine.

“We have just days for the UK to lead in Europe and save Ukraine from a shoddy deal cooked up by Trump and Putin.”

Nigel Farage hit out at the Labour Government as he insisted Britain needs a “change of attitude”.

He told the conference: “We need some very big cultural changes. We’ve got to get that spirit, that sense of optimism back in the country.

“We had it in the late 1980s, we actually had it through much of the 1990s. That’s what we have to recapture.

“I mean, God, doesn’t Rachel Reeves make you want to reach for the cry tissues?

“It’s all so miserable, it’s all so declinist. Frankly, the Conservatives have been no better. We need a change of attitude in Britain.”

Nigel Farage admitted he “may not necessarily be the best advocate for monogamous heterosexuality or stable marriage, having been divorced twice” when asked about birth rates.

But he said that he returned to politics last year for “family, community, country”.

The Reform UK leader said: “They’re the things that matter to me above absolutely everything.”

He added that “what underpins everything is our Judeo-Christian culture” and continued: “Of course, we need higher birth rates, but we’re not going to get higher birth rates in this country until we can get some sense of optimism.

“And we need a complete 180 shift in attitudes.”

The Reform UK leader told the conference: “It’s a truth that no one dares tell. Net zero is a complete and utter disaster.

“If you want to have energy production that is very low in carbon output there is only one way ahead, that is small modular nuclear reactors, dozens of them all over the country. That’s the only way forward.”

Nigel Farage said Reform is on a mission to “reindustrialise” Britain.

He told delegates: “We take the view that if we’re going to be using gas, if we’re going to be using oil in this country until 2050, and even the most zealous net zero types accept we’ll be using these commodities for years to come, our view is we may as well produce them ourselves in our own country and genuinely become energy independent.

“Our platform is to reindustrialise Britain. We’ve closed down our steel industry.

“We think closing down the steel industry is good because it means our national CO2 output is down.

“All that happens is the plant closes in Redcar, the plant closes in South Wales, it reopens in India under lower environmental standards, and then the steel is shipped back to us.”

Reform UK leader Nigel Farage insisted that the right-wing of politics in the UK “is not split”.

He told the conference: “The right is not split in this country. The Conservative Party is not on the right in any measurable way.”

The Clacton MP added: “Fourteen years that caused the highest tax burden since 1947.

“Fourteen years that saw mass immigration – legal mass immigration – on a scale hitherto never even dreamt of.

“Fourteen years that saw illegal immigration, small boats crossing the Channel, and the Government completely incapable of dealing with it because they couldn’t face up to what membership of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) was all about.

“And fourteen years that saw net zero enshrined into law by a Conservative government, and Boris Johnson and Theresa May as evangelical about net zero as the current (Energy Secretary) Ed Miliband.”

Nigel Farage has taken to the main stage at the Alliance for Responsible Citizenship conference to be interviewed by Canadian author Jordan Peterson.

Healey says his outlined reforms to British defence are the “biggest shake-up in 50 years”.

He pledges the government will match sustained investment with reform, and make Britain more muscular on the world stage.

Healey says 2012 reforms by the Coalition government are responsible for much of the waste seen in the Defence department.

He will end the Levene process created by the then-government.

Healey says he’s introducing “clear points of accountability” at every level.

The Chief of the Defence Staff now commands the service chiefs for the first time, which will be in charge of a new design and war planning team.

The department will become “leaner and more agile”, with a revamp of senior roles creating people with broad policy roles and mandates.

The Chief of Defence Nuclear will continue to lead and deliver the national nuclear enterprise.

He says the new quad will lead a defence more concentrated on warfighting readiness and deterrence.

It will shift the focus from process to outcomes.

It will be up and running by March 31.

John Healey says Defence spending isn’t just a question of how much, but how well money is being spent.

Mr Healey argues the government is not securing a good value for money from spending.

“We duplicate even the most central tasks. For example we have 11 separate finance functions – 2,500 people doing the same activity in different places in different ways.”

He also criticises “process and procedure”, with too much complexity “where simplicity is needed”.

He reveals there are 11 checkers for each procurement decision.

“No wonder it takes on average six years for a large programme simply to get onto contract.”

John Healey quips he wasn’t expecting such interest in Defence policy when he agreed to the IfG speech and interview some weeks ago.

The Defence Secretary says the current headlines and decisions “will define the outcome of the conflict in Ukraine and the security of our world for a generation to come.”

Mr Healey discussed defence reform with his new US counterpart recently.

Healey says the path to 2.5% of GDP on defence will be set out in the spring.

With Labour, the LibDems and many Tories suggesting they would support British troops going to Ukraine, it leaves Reform UK the only main party out on a limb.

Yesterday the party’s chairman Zia Yusuf tweeted: “Has anyone else noticed that political leaders start to get really keen to send other people’s children to war zones after their domestic poll ratings collapse?”

MP Rupert Lowe said: “MPs posting childish insults from their cosy offices need to consider the gravity of the situation. I don’t suppose they’ll be on the ground – in the mud, in the cold, in the potential firing line.”

“We need to think very carefully about this, because we haven’t in recent past and look what that got us.

“Hundreds of dead British men and women.”

According to polling, Reform UK has the highest number of supporters who would back a cut in the level of British support for the Eastern European country.

However, this still amounts to just one in three Reform UK voters.

The Conservative shadow defence secretary James Cartlidge has said he “certainly wouldn’t rule out supporting” the PM’s offer of sending British troops to Ukraine.

It comes after former PM Rishi Sunak warmly welcomed Sir Keir’s bold plan, alongside the leader of the LibDems Sir Ed Davey.

Speaking on Sky News this morning Mr Cartlidge said that while it remains a “hypothetical” situation, “there’s a very strong parliamentary consensus about the need to support Ukraine. So clearly we intend to keep doing that.”

However he warned: “It’s a pretty big step to go from supplying weapons to actually having our people there.”