Political party conference roundup: What are they offering farmers?

As the 2024 political party conferences wrap up, Farmers Guardian's news and business team discuss the goings on at the Liberal Democrat, Labour and Conservative Party conferences and what each party has to offer for the farming sector. 

Transcript

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You're listening to the Farmers Guardian podcast and you can receive. So we've come to the end of party conference season. As the Conservative Party conference wrapped up earlier this week. Our reporters at Farmers Guardian have been out and about around the main party conferences to find out about their ambitions, or lack thereof, for the farming sector.


Jane Thynne was out at the Lib Dem conference, which was the first of the three major political conferences. Did you want to give us some of the headlines from the Lib Dems? Well, first up was, a motion to create a new national nature park, which was, proposed by Tim Farron. Lots about rewilding, how important the environment is, river cleanups and stuff.


But Tim very much emphasized how important farmers were and how much had already been done in this area and how the party valued farmers. They said over and over again, we are the party of farmers. That motion was passed and that was all very positive. Okay. But then attending that was actually the only, meeting that really involved farmers.


Nothing else was on the, Lib Dem agenda in terms of farming. It's all very care based, NHS based. Yeah, we didn't really feature after the 9:00 am half an hour meeting on the first day. But then lots of fringe meetings, which had quite a different, tone to what, Tim and previously Ed Davey have said in the run up to the elections, very, very negative towards farming, very, very pro environmental, sort of extreme environmental and complete rewilding.

One meeting we were told that sheep were ruining the lake districts and it just should just be a place of spiritual renewal. There was also people claiming one lady claiming a child was ill because they live near a farm. And that was what was making the child ill. People moaning about harvesting, and dust. And basically I've everything.

So it was, it was all very negative. Lots about pesticide use. And how basically, farmers are damaging the environment. So it was a little bit sort of incongruous as to what the the top team was saying. And obviously now Alistair Carmichael is chair of FAA and Tim is obviously very vocal as a rural affairs spokesperson.


And and they attended the NFU, briefing and it was such a different picture. They were very, very supportive. You know, one farm is to do more, produce more food. They want to protect the uplands. Protect the commons. But as I say, it was just it was a bit of a, a double edged, message that I think we were getting.

So labor was up next, obviously their first party conference in a long time as the party of government. Rachael Brown, you were there for a few. What was the feeling at the labor conference? Yeah, Alex, there was definitely, a feeling of mixed emotion, I guess. One of the real sense of this could be a turning point for the industry and sector.


You know, a really exciting point of change in terms of the change of government, a real opportunity for farmers here that they can really show what they can deliver. And, you know, a lot of farmers in the room saying, you know, we're up to the challenge. We want to do this. We want to kind of make the transition.


But and on the other hand, you know, society, if we're asking farmers to take on this new social contract, you must meet farmers halfway. And they're saying, you know, you're asking so much of us and we cannot do it for free. We're not a charity. We're a business. It's at the end of the day with families behind it.


And I think there's a lot of emphasis, understandably, around the budget. So many conversations of we need to maintain the farming budget as a bare minimum. But, you know, of course, a lot of people waiting for the budget to be even higher, given the challenges of the arts, are being put on farmers at the moment.


So budget a real sense of what's coming there. And I think this lack of clarity is really affecting the industry right now. So when labor came into power, there was this kind of positivity of, you know, change. But since we're coming to power, this hasn't been real any kind of clear direction in which like the wants to take the sector on.


So when they're in opposition, that was real criticism of the conservative government that it wasn't a clear direction, an end point on where they want the sector to go. And I think at the moment, still, farmers are not very clear what's being asked of them. There's a lot of mixed messaging. So I think there's a lot of building momentum towards the budget at the moment.


And a lot of things being put on hold, which is causing a lot of frustration and uncertainty and inevitably involving solidarity for farmers at the moment. Cause I just don't know what's being asked of them and what is going to come. So hopefully the budget obviously will give this clarity. But, you know, the former minister at the Labor Party conference very much kind of clear in response to any questions around budget that look, you got to wait for Chancellor, to give this update.


But, you know, like I said earlier, a lot of things being put on hold at the moment, for example, the Farming Recovery Fund, in terms of those farms impacted by the flooding, that's now been further delay to after the budget. There's a lot of uncertainty around SFI rumors around SFI agreements being delayed because of the budget. So given that it was a Labor Party conference, obviously the first time they've been in government for so many years, there was, I guess, an era of disappointment that there was just no real concrete announcements, being made.


I guess the only one was at a fringe event. There was confirmation that this long awaited land use framework was finally, going out for consultation. So all being well should go out to consultation in November. And there's a real sense of optimism that that land use framework will provide some strategy, some understanding of how this labor government wants to use land.


Because we all know there are so many demands on land at the moment for housing, not just for farming. It's why, how we kind of navigate through that. And there's a real sense of optimism that hopefully this land use framework will provide some clarity and direction of that. So, yeah, like I said, just a real sense of wanting to know more, wanting to hear more from this labor government of what is being asked of farmers.


But like I said, there was some optimism that, you know, this could be a really a real big turning point for farming. They're up for the challenge, but there's got to be the finances to support them. Thanks, Rachel. And and obviously the conservatives did a very different position from labor. You know, they've come off the back of this big loss in the general election.


Chris Brayford, you were at the conservative Party conference. What was the feeling there? I went to the Conservative Party conference last year, and it was quite striking to see the the contrast of the party that was in power in a position of power to one which was licking its wounds, really. After losing over 250 seats at the general election.

I think, you know, the atmosphere, you could see a lot of smiling, conservative MPs and some that had lost their seats. But I think the reality was it was, you know, putting a brave face on, what was. Yes, a very, very, very disappointing general election. There was lots of fringe events based on, farming and the environment.

I could probably tell you that there was at least 8 or 9, which focused on land use, rewilding, the agricultural budget, housing and what they offer is that the conservatives can provide in towards the next general election and in five years time, and their base as a party in opposition to labor, the conservatives have they've got to reengage and get back into those rural communities that that they lost at the the general election.

There was an NFU fringe event and a policy analyst from YouGov, and he said that the conservatives had lost 163 rural constituencies, at the general election, which I think is quite striking at the same time. And, and it shows just how out of touch the party was when it, when it came to what they had to offer at the general election to farmers and, and I guess the, the 14 years that they'd had in government and a really, really deep examination of of what went wrong, really what went wrong.


And, and I guess we can say the struggles with the party leadership that the conservatives going to have their fourth leader within the space of two years. And you've got to think about all the different secretaries of state for different departments that they had. It wasn't consistent enough, and it didn't provide that reassurance and certainty that that farmers have been seeking for, for, for a very long time since Brexit, really.

And I know we're going to touch a lot more on it a bit later, but I thought it was quite interesting. The the NSA's deputy president, David Axelrod, there was a lot of discussion about confidence within the farming sector at the moment and how it's at an all time low. And one of those contributing factors, he said. That is that politics just hasn't worked in a very, very long time for both farmers and rural voters.


And there was also concern that from the conservatives, they would trying to still claim, you know, the former defense secretary Michael Gove, and the shadow deficit secretary. Now, Steve Barclay, they both said that only the conservatives are the party of farming, nature and wildlife and that there's some concern us to this new labor government and what it's going to mean that for the future of, of the industry.

And do they understand farmers, rural communities as much as the conservatives? There's a lot to to dissect from it. Ultimate lay conservatives need to be effective in opposition to labor. And I think I wanted to pick up on that final point there, Chris, in terms of does the Labor government understand this new labor government understands farming and the farming community, and I think only time will tell.


And I think that a real sense of yes, that they have to have a period of time to get a sense around the policies and what direction they want. But, you know, now is the time to deliver. They've had that kind of settling in period. And now farmers want to hear what is going on, what is their vision for the British agriculture.


And I think kind of patience is starting to where they're a little now. I think it's important to reflect on what Steve Reid has been saying quite often recently is that he sees that perhaps this Department of Economic Growth, you know, which is a real positive thing to hear. And I think farmers want that to then be relayed to, obviously to the Chancellor, Rachel Reeves, and a be on a real understanding that, yes, agriculture can really help with Labor's five missions.


So, you know, one of their missions is kickstart economic growth, but another one is around the clean energy superpower and building, and it just fit for, the future. And I think that connection of farming with food kind of ties in with that, you know, real recognition of how actually farming and food really has an impact on it.


Just waiting left is not something that Labor Party wanting to drive down. And I think it's that understanding that it's farming can provide so much more to our economy than what is kind of previously understood. And I think farmers are really keen to make sure that this new government understands that. Just going back to budget, there is a real sense of frustration at the moment because a lot of things are being put on hold.


The recovery fund, has been put on hold. There's a real sense of delays around ATV agreements and rumors around that the have some indications that they don't want to upset the applecart, but they want to make some tweaks or modifications. We don't know what those will be. But again, that's creating some uncertainty for people to make the leap into SFI because they fear there's going to be some changes to come.


But yeah, like I said, there's a real sense of, you know, they've had that settling in period. Now is the time to really kind of deliver, some policy, changes and action points and a real vision for where they want to take the sector on, really. I think a lot of it, you know, revolves around the budget because you've had a lot of talk.


This underspend, obviously, Rachel Reeves is sort of clawing back this much money from, well, from any way she can. So that would seem like an obvious point that if we couldn't spend it in the past two years, you know, we don't need it. Farming doesn't need it. I think the thing about businesses as well, Rachel, Hallows at, Lib Dems was really keen to, you know, get the message over that.

Farming is a business. It's not just this. We do it because we love it. Yes, we want to provide food. We want to work for nature, but we also have to make money. It is a business. And I think a lot of the rumors about Apr and inheritance tax and things like that, it's only sort of negative news that's coming out from labor at the moment.

And the magical, the with the rivers and the polluter pays and sort of on the spot inspections from, the Environment and Agency. It's a lot sort of rests on this budget. I think this we seem to be on a bit of a negative and negative turn, though. Definitely. And I think what's also going to be interesting is how those roles in the department play out.


What's different, different with this labor government compared to the previous conservative government, is a deficit, which is very much taking on the role of officially an environment secretary and his real focus in the last couple of weeks since coming into Into power has inevitably been water pollution, really, really targeting those water companies, tougher fines and legislation. Whereas he's left his colleague, minister, the farming minister, to really focus on farming.


And there's a real kind of division there. And I think that's interesting to see how that plays out. It feels very much the secretary is putting onus on Daniels and the farming minister to really, really take ownership of that breach, which you know, in turn gives farmers some confidence. There is some experiment, definitely some experience, though, with Daniels.


I think that he's done that role as shadow farming minister. And, you know, really kind of understands hopefully the sector. But having kind of those two separate briefs, I'm not sure how that's going to really play out, because time and time again we hear that we should stop kind of pitching to two against each other. And, you know, farming environment, nature should all be working together.


And that's, you know, common conversation and topic that kept coming across all different events that we need to stop this division. And, you know, bad versus good, essentially, there is a common goal here that we're all the whole sector, you know, environmental organization, farming groups are all working towards. And inevitably we're going to get that quick. Yeah. If we work together.


And I think it's important to note that it's not just the frustration from the farming community when it comes to the budget. Environmental groups are completely frustrated that, you know, their priorities are not, you know, if the budget goes go down, they'll be really, really concerned and worried because essentially that's kind of delaying. And notably delaying getting to those targets and that, those net zero emissions.


So yeah, I think another key theme is that idea of collaboration, which we hear time and time again. And I think having those kind of, you know, pitching, going to one another again doesn't help for the sector in terms of mental health. You know, we own this. We know it's very widely reported. Confidence is really low in the sector right now.


Mental health is a big, big issue. And I think that needs to be taken into consideration too. I mean, we say that about pitching environment again against farmers. But then you see that stark contrast don't yet and probably most stark of the Lib Dem conference from what you've said. But that not conference there between what Tim Farron was saying, all the right things I suppose, compared to sitting in those environmental groups with the being told that sheep are ruined and ruined in the Lake District, that's a problem that maybe the parties have.

I think in terms of the Lib Dems, it is very much yeah, the leadership is saying one thing. But the members of the party, very committed environmentalists, you know, at net zero energy efficiency, unlike in labor, which has always been a problem that the rank and file of the membership are more urban based, and their interests are moribund.


They're not really interested in countryside areas apart from, you know, maybe going going on holiday. Oh, going for a walk. So I think yeah, there is that, there is that sort of problem. That farmers feel that the actual general public, the confidence is low. And I think what it showed the Lib Dems was that they, the membership was very different message to the to the leadership.


I think also what's worth noting, not only is this kind of waiting for the budget announcement, but also other things that were promised by the previous government, such as the impact assessment. So an understanding of what this SFI is delivering that still needs to come in and in the shadow when they were shot. But shadow government, labor did say this would be one of their first priority.


So be interesting to see how quickly that gets over the line and where the work has already been done behind the scenes to get an understanding of that impact assessment. And I think something that came up from the NFU fringe event is Baselining. At the moment, there is no reporting, understanding, evaluation of essentially what farmers are delivering. So in this argument around budget, how on earth can the following minister go to the Chancellor and say, look, this is what the sector has achieved in the last 12 months when it comes to biodiversity, whether it be whether it comes to carbon sequestration, because there are no baselines there for farmers to work off.


There is no consistent baseline. And I think that's something that really this government needs to grapple from the outset very, very quickly because no other business was operate without knowing essentially what is being delivered. And I think it's a very difficult one. And the following minister accepted this. He agreed. It's very difficult for him at the moment to put a case forward when there is no baselines in place, there is no impact assessment to understand essentially what the sector is delivering, when it becomes when it comes to biodiversity in nature.


So I think that is another priority. So there's a huge amount to be done in this government's in-tray. And it'll be interesting to see how quickly things get done, because obviously the last couple of months there hasn't been any real significant updates. So farmers will be hoping that a lot of work has been done in the background.


And actually, once this point it's been announced, there'll be a flurry of announcements, we hope. Now, I was just going to say, I think that's what you said. You mentioned before. All that's come out really is the sort of negative, and what has been really moving is Ed Miliband energy, department with the sort of planning permissions for solar farms, which that, that that department really does seem to be up and running.


Yeah. And I think what farmers want when it becomes these solar applications is it is to be part of the dialog, to be consulted, to be, for their views and opinions, to be understood and be part of the conversation rather than being completely ignored on it. And I think that goes back to the whole idea of, you know, this labor government has something to prove to the rural community and farming community because previously, obviously, there was that distrust there.


There was that feeling of the labor government on a party for the rural community and farming community. And now that they have got into power, it's now time to kind of prove that they are. And I think as a key part of that is for those rural local MP that are new within the, you know, the new labor MPs within rural communities to really get on the ground, visit farms.


They may not have that knowledge and understanding experience of farming communities, but to be seen to be proactively getting on farm and understanding where the challenges lie. And I think it's just being in that real listening mode, which is so important for farmers and so important for this labor government to build up trust with the farming community. Yeah, I just wanted to touch on the idea of being the party of of farmers because, obviously you say that the label keen in the kind of election run up to say that they could be a party of the countryside.


Jane, obviously the Lib Dems will say they were the party that understood farmers. And Chris, obviously they the Tories will say that the only party that understand farmers, and I suppose not all of these things can be true at the same time. But, you know, we've also had, you know, a really good election result for for the Greens.


That said, the general election. And of course, I suppose the elephant in the room, particularly at the conservative conference, Chris, was the Reform Party and how much success that they had had. Yes, you're right, Alex, another kind of insight from kind of the polling data that that you covered brought together was how voters turn their backs on the conservatives on a host of issues, including competence, being able to run the economy effectively.


But it wasn't just reform as well. There was also mention about, like you said, the the emergence of the Green Party, especially when they want to see certain in rural constituencies that was described as as a very, very huge shift, especially for where the Greens, where their heartland is, you know, it was such, you know, pretty much a shock, really, that that they were able to, to gain the rural vote and some of those constituencies.


But I think overall, the, the conservatives, they also had a leadership campaign, you know, with Robert Jenrick, James Cleverly, Tom Tugendhat, Kemi Badenoch, all of these candidates standing for for change really, and perhaps that is badly needed for, for the Conservative Party. There are still elements there that are still just too heavily linked to the past, I think, and that division that was played out like, like a drama on our news week in week hour, at one stage.


And when it came to the election, it, it showed as well that voters were were choosing candidates that weren't conservatives to get them out. So they like I said earlier, there needs to be some form of looking at what went wrong, why reform was also able to gain that traction among conservative voters and and how they can bring back real voters to to the conservatives.

Again, it'll be very interesting to, to see. I just wanted to pick up on another kind of key policy point that labor not only highlighted in its general election campaign, but continues to highlight. And that's the idea of public procurement, which we've heard from the previous government, too. And, and, and I think it's important to kind of be very critical of it because, you know, public procurement is an amazing vision and idea.

And I think all farmers would love the idea of that food being locally, used within schools, hospitals. But something that was flagged to me this week. And I think actually having the infrastructure and operationally being able to deliver public procurement is such a big ask. It was said to me this week, you know, in Wales they don't have the processing facilities available to enable this vision to happen.

I think it was the figure that was thrown about 80% of potatoes are used in. And while schools are processed in the Netherlands and I think it's all well and good from these big policy ideas and this ambition and drive. But essentially it needs to detail, it needs to understand the practicalities, the challenge is to deliver this vision.

And I think, you know, it's amazing to have that drive of having public procurement and increasing that percentage of, British homegrown food that is produced, and, you know, delivered in schools and hospitals. But how do we get there? And I think that is common across all the policy. Just how do we get there is great having these big policy ideas, but how do we essentially deliver in and the break down of, of delivering that and that level of detail is so much needed.


I think sometimes that's often missed. And we kind of get blinded by these big policy ideas. But actually, how do we deliver that on the ground and understand in certain, you know, in Wales it may be different in certain regions as well. It's not as clear cut as what kind of sometimes policymakers make out. Yeah. I think there's two kind of elements to that as well.

Isn't the you know, the one side of it is, you know, schools and hospitals and NHS and everything they're under such pressure. I mean, the budgets that school cooks have to to get the food in is so, so tight. I suppose if the so I said, you know, they've got these restrictions on sourcing to to British as great as that sounds and is you know that's going to cause issues for for them.


And but the other side of it, you know everybody was talking about health think and the Lib Dems the NHS was obviously discussion at every single party conference. But you know, farms often say, you know, the public procurement, you know that that health angle, you know, we've got an obesity crisis, you know, and the other end of that, you know, with poverty for children and, and providing good meals in hospitals with obviously locally produced British produce could provide a real boost for, for those other areas.


And that's why, you know, my point at the very beginning is that those conversations all need to be interlinked across all the governmental departments. And we're just not quite there with that. And I think education, that's another key point. Time and time again, some of the fringe events, the idea of education within agriculture, food for me, not only people understand, we hear it all the time, but people understanding where that food comes from and the the work that's done to produce that food and that nutritious level food, but also making agriculture a career.


Something that Sophie Gregory, an organic dairy farm in Devon, her own personal mission. And she's so determined she wants to see agriculture on the curriculum. And I think from a farmer's point of view, it's a no brainer, but it just doesn't seem to be kind of getting that over the line. And I don't know what the kind of answer to that is, but I think generally what I came away from the Labor Party conference is that need of just not seeing farming budget as the farming budget, but actually it can it can provide so much more.


It shouldn't be seen as the farming pot, it should be seen as something that really can drive economic growth, can help bring down NHS waiting lists, can provide opportunities for young people to see what I mean. I think there needs to be that kind of broader vision on the farming pot, as well as providing such a fantastic way of trying to be inspired.


Diversity, boost nature, meet our climate environmental targets. It needs that rule division, particularly on the budget that was mentioned quite a lot at the Conservative Party conference. They thought, you know, the country is on kind of tenterhooks waiting for what they can do. The budget is going to be so important for what farming can do, and what it can achieve.


And like you said, Rachel, that there's these demands to meet biodiversity and bring down greenhouse gases and the role that farmers can do and and how important food and farming is in our daily lives, you know, every single day. The old saying, we need a farmer three times a day is so, so, so important. But what comes from this butcher is going to establish what essentially farming can do.


And if you're steering off a bit, I think we could do a whole different podcast on kind of the budget and any issues around inheritance tax, etcetera, what that could mean. And farmers have been waiting for so long, they need that reassurance now. Yeah. No, definitely. I think the budget is going to be key. But also it's it's not only how much the budget will be, but also it's just such a short term nature because obviously the budget goes in line with politics.


And when you know that five years lot when the next general election will be and I think, you know, farming doesn't work in short term, it works in long term. We need a 10 to 20 year budget strategy going on. And I think that is ultimately a big, big question as well is why can't we get a 10 to 20 year strategy, which obviously, you know, is difficult us to have.

But that is something a challenge in itself. But, you know, farmers in the industry have to do with and I think it's, you know, it's not just farmers that are facing this uncertainty right now. It's, you know, rural businesses as a whole. I mean, the whole country at the moment is in that state of flux and uncertainty of what this budget, because there's been so much build up towards it, more so than any other kind of budget in recent years that I've heard.


There's a real, real sense of anxiety of what's going to come from it. I think it doesn't help. I guess there has to be this element where, you know, farmers and and environmental groups, they have to work together on this. But it also seems that the environmentalist angle sometimes in argument is overshadowing the importance of of what farming is and what it's doing to restore and benefit nature.


You know, the, the, the model and the ideal of the countryside and how it's been maintained for centuries because the farming is so important. And I guess it doesn't help when we're seeing solar developments coming in, local governments and planning and and I think the concern there as well is that taking Lund out of production is essentially taking a chunk out of these livelihoods.


So there needs to be, you know, some commonality and understanding and it's a joined up approach on the approach, a balancing act, because, you know, clean energy in itself is needed, but it's understanding where it's best placed is a balancing act and just actively listening to both sides. I think farmers want that reassurance. Yeah. And it's obviously it's a it's a different matter as well.


What they you know yes I can tenanted land you know land you know for the landowner if you're farming in hand and you want to do a solar development is a different, different perspective than if you're tenement. No. Absolutely, absolutely. Well, well, I think we could probably go on about this for hours, but hopefully that has given a good, overview of the mood at the political party conferences.


And obviously, we'll be keeping an eye on the budget and the leadership, election for the next conservative leader. But thank you very much for listening. Goodbye for now.