Debate contribution: Farming Families: Autumn Budget 2024

Debate contribution by Mr Jonathan Buckley on 19 November 2024.

MLA

Mr Jonathan Buckley

Party at the time

Democratic Unionist Party

Date

19 November 2024

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Farming Families: Autumn Budget 2024

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 4666431

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. Today's debate has been important. Who would have thought that four months of Labour Government would have wreaked such havoc and destruction on the stable block of UK society? They have pickpocketed pensioners, tied the arm of small businesses behind their back with National Insurance contribution rises and destroyed the bedrock of our communities across this United Kingdom: our family farms. I have deliberately stood in the Chamber beside a man who has been involved in agriculture his entire life. William Irwin, my friend and colleague, had to take on the burden and responsibility of running a family farm at 20 years of age when his father passed away. Under the inheritance tax rules that we have debated today, William Irwin would not have been able to take on his family farm. The family farm would have been broken up and destroyed, yet, because of the policies that we had in this country to support agricultural family farms, William Irwin was able not only to inherit his family farm but bring it to new heights and the level that it is at today. What is threatened? If Members listened last night to the farmers who were represented at the Eikon exhibition centre, they will know that it is about their children.

I will in a moment. It is about their children. The pressures that farming life brings, with high-value assets and low incomes, means that, for many of them, the changes will bring about the destruction of the farming unit. We all know that today's 20% inheritance tax will salami-slice the farm because it cannot be paid for with farm income. An important point that was raised with me last night is that the old must die, but the young can die. How many young family farmers will take on the family farm not knowing what the future will bring? My colleague Miss McIlveen mentioned the heartache that comes with family farm deaths. I lost two uncles in family farm deaths. You cannot plan for the future, yet families will be faced with huge tax bills, which will destroy the viability of farms and the fabric of rural communities. It does not matter whether you are a republican in Strabane or a unionist in north Antrim: this affects us all. The Labour Government need to face up to the reality because their approach is continuing to strip away the very fabric of this society. I look at inheritance tax as a jealousy tax and a tax of envy. It is a tax raid because it is on income that has already been taxed. The changes in inheritance tax go to the very heart of the anger that farmers are feeling today. We talk about succession planning, the barriers to new entry, discouraging investment and rising operational costs. Farmers are facing a fight on so many fronts, and today they are shouting. They are shouting to the Government, "Don't put your boot on us. Put your hand down and lift us up". That is the type of language that Members need to get real with because we are undermining food security. In Northern Ireland, we have some of the most fantastic producers of quality farm food. Across these islands, we are known for that. Yet, zealot quests, be they from Treasury or from those who want to pursue net zero in cruel and ambitious ways, are destroying the very fabric of our society: the farmers, who have done so much. We have to be realistic about the changes that will come as a result of the abolition of agricultural property relief. Many onlookers to today's debate will think, "A million pounds? That sounds like a lot of money. These farmers are rich. Why should they not pay inheritance tax in the same way as the rest of us?". That is a fundamental misunderstanding of how a family farm is handed from one generation to the next. It is a fundamental misunderstanding of the huge costs involved. It has already been mentioned that land prices in Northern Ireland vastly outstrip those in many other parts of the United Kingdom. It is not long before you tot up £1 million pounds, taking into account the farm dwelling, farm buildings and farm machinery. The estimates are that one in three farms in Northern Ireland and 75% of our dairy farms could be affected. I will go as far as saying that the change will be much more consequential because, as time rolls on, we will see our family farms and the generations of families that ran them ebbing into a distant past. Agriculture will be looked upon as an industry of the past. When Members go into the Senate Chamber and look up at the wall, they will see that three industries are represented: shipbuilding, linen and agriculture. Those are the three pillar industries of society. Those industries and the people who worked in them with blood, sweat and tears made this country what it was. Shipbuilding and linen production are gone, but agriculture remains, Members. We are receiving a lesson from the farmer today, which is, "Ignore us at your peril". Last night, there was a significant gathering of those who are concerned about the autumn Budget. Indeed, some 6,000 people gathered. They were not just old people and not just men. Men, women and children, who make up our society, are worried. I was asked the question, "Jonny, what will tonight achieve?". It is a good question, because all of us in the Chamber know that the decision is not a devolved one. As I listened on, the gentleman said that he was worried about the viability of his farm, and I said, "If tonight has achieved one thing, it is this: there has been a recalibration". Parties in here are finding reverse gear, because, for too long, I have come to the Chamber and listened to Ministers and Members bring forward policies and table motions that are anti-agriculture. That is a fact, so let us not hide from it. The former Green Party Member Clare Bailey introduced a Climate Change Bill that the evidence said would result in 80% of our livestock having to go and our processing sector being wiped out. Thousands of jobs on farms would be sacrificed on the altar of net zero by the agriculturally illiterate, who did not care about the devastation that the legislation would cause to farm families. Instead, they voted for it at Second Stage in the Chamber, with the exception of the TUV and the DUP. Members, we earlier debated bovine TB. In Northern Ireland, 90,000 cattle have been destroyed in the past five years. They were taken to the slaughterhouse: years of family breeding ended because the Assembly could not deal with the wildlife problem. In closing, my message to farmers is this: you have a captive audience in your political representatives right now. Do not lose it. Hold them accountable. The decision, if not challenged and reversed, will lead to worse decisions in the future for agriculture. To the Minister, I say this: get real on the issue, because running out of last night's meeting with your bow tie between your legs will not help the agriculture community deal with this real threat. I look forward to seeing the parties opposite bring forward policies that are pro-agriculture. Rest assured, you will be held accountable for every single one of them.

1,245 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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Assessed 21 October 2026 at 11:38 UTC by jev-1.13.0 (requested as typesafe/jev) under rubric 2026.10-r9, methodology 1.9.

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