Politics

This week from Farmers Guardian editor Olivia Midgley

Speaking to Sky News, Sir Keir Starmer said it was a political choice. He said you could not have waiting lists coming down while maintaining the 'tax break' for farmers

This week from Rachael Brown, Farmers Guardian chief reporter

It is understood NFU, TFA, CLA and the CAAV have been invited to a meeting next week (February 18) with Treasury officials. The devolved farming unions are also expected to meet in a separate meeting

Keir Starmer refused to apologise for the remarks made the Farming Minister, Daniel Zeichner, earlier this week that the agricultural industry was not high in the Government's 'pecking order'

Liberal Democrat MP for North East Fife, Wendy Chamberlain, accused the Government of failing to consider the impact of its proposed IHT changes on Scottish tenant farmers, despite raising the problem ‘four times in the last three months'

Amanda Watson, from North Yorkshire, said on her family's upland beef and sheep farm land was everything and 'not an asset on paper', but the 'foundation' of their entire business

Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner told farmers at the Norfolk Farming Conference ‘the Budget is as the Budget is' and it was not going to change

Treasury urged to work together to consider whether its IHT policy could be 'recalibrated' and a 'few tweaks' could be made to both support family farms and close loopholes to maintain pressure on 'landbankers'

General public must be aware of what we could lose if farms are forced to go, says organiser