EFRA Committee Chair Alistair Carmichael MP visits North Devon to meet farmers with Ian Roome MP

Alistair Carmichael MP, Chair of the House of Commons Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee and Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, has visited North Devon after being invited by Ian Roome MP to meet local farmers and representatives from the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) and hear first-hand about the pressures they face.

The visit focused on the issues farmers across North Devon say are hitting them hardest, including the ongoing uncertainty around the Government’s changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR), often referred to as the “Family Farm Tax”, and how those changes could still affect working family farms even after the Government’s recent concession which involved increasing the threshold at which point this tax becomes payable.

North Devon’s farmers also raised concerns about the cumulative impact of rising input costs, labour pressures, unpredictable policy changes and the challenge of long-term planning when schemes and rules change at short notice. Farmers and NFU representatives also highlighted the importance of food security and maintaining a strong farming sector in a rural area like North Devon, where agriculture plays a massive role in the economy.

Ian Roome MP, Liberal Democrat MP for North Devon, said:

“Since the election, I’ve been out on farms across North Devon to hear directly about the pressures farmers are facing. It was great to be back out again this week, and to keep making the case for the support the sector needs.”

“North Devon is built on family farms, and these farms are passed down through generations and underpin our local, rural economy. How are farmers meant to plan for the future when the government keeps lurching from one policy to another - it’s ridiculous! Even with the Government’s recent concession on the Family Farm Tax, there’s still real anxiety about what the final rules will mean in practice, and it comes on top of other frustrations, from the lack of grip on illegal meat imports to the urgent need to strengthen support for farmers in the grocery supply chain.

“That’s why it was important to bring my colleague Alistair Carmichael, as Chair of the EFRA Committee, to meet local farmers and the NFU and hear directly about what’s happening on the ground. We Liberal Democrats will continue to fight for a fairer deal for farmers and rural communities.”