Daniel Zeichner MP: speeches

Speeches

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman is very knowledgeable about these issues. I just gently ask him to look closely at the detail and the figures, which show that the numbers are low. I do not recognise his characterisation of the future.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  The hon. Lady will know that farming policy is different in Scotland, but on the tax issues, which are UK-wide, that is absolutely right, but I would suggest that she gets her farmers to look in detail at these proposals, and what they will find is the vast majority— [ Interruption. ] When they look at them in detail, they will find that the vast majority will be absolutely fine.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for his question. I do not think it is broken down by national area at the moment, but it is something we can go away and look at.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. It seems that the Conservative party does not understand that if we raise taxes and invest in the future, we can do more to protect people who cannot protect themselves. It is vital that we tackle rural crime, which is a top issue that is raised with me consistently.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  Seventy-three per cent of agricultural property relief claims are for less than £1 million. The vast majority of farmers will not be affected. They will be able to pass the family farm down to their children just as previous generations have always done. It is a fair and balanced approach that protects family farms while also fixing the public services that those same families rely on. It is part of a Budget that will restore economic stability and begin a decade of national renewal.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  Yes, we have, because we have looked at the figures. Again, I do not recognise the hon. Gentleman’s characterisation although, given some of the things that have been said over the last few days, I understand why people are alarmed.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I think the hon. Gentleman will know that the definition of a farm is actually rather complicated. That is what makes this quite a difficult debate, and I am not going to comment on individual farms, but the overall assessment— [Interruption.] Let me return to the point about the Treasury figures, which show that the number of claims likely to be affected by this change is relatively low.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  “Could be at risk” has a very broad definition. The figures are absolutely clear, and I suggest that the hon. Gentleman looks at them.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  The right hon. Gentleman has raised an important point. We will be addressing it through the land use framework, which will be delivered in the next couple of months. Of course there are trade-offs. There are a range of pressures on our land, in respect of housing, food, energy and so many other things. We need to have a rational way of making those decisions, and that is exactly what we will introduce.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  At no point did I say that farming families did not understand the detail. What I asked was for Members on the Conservative Benches to look at the detail, because when they look at the detail, they will find the truth.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I have been on an extended farm tour for the last five years, and I am sure it will continue.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for promoting me to Secretary of State—I hope he has similar success in the coming hours. The hon. Gentleman raises a whole series of questions. He asked again, as others have, about other elements in the Budget. The figures are absolutely there; they were published by the Treasury and are there for all to read. They are the facts on the estates that have made claims on agricultural property relief in the last year available. [ Interruption. ] They are there for everyone to see. It is not difficult, it is not complicated—they are there. Something that perhaps has not been said, but which should be, is that there were many calls to reflect the changing way in which farming operates by including environmental land management schemes within the scope of agricultural property relief. I hear nothing from Opposition Front Benchers about that. Do they not understand the way in which British farming is changing?

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I am very reluctant to offer tax advice to anybody, but the advice I have been given is that the figure may even be more than that. I urge people to look closely at the detail, rather than jumping to the worst conclusion.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  It is very good to see my near neighbour. What I will say to Cambridgeshire farmers is that the thing they need most of all is a stable economy, and they also need a sound environment in which they can farm. The measures that we are putting in place will ensure their prosperity for the future.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman will know that tax discussions during the run-up to a Budget are a delicate issue. However, there was no shortage of discussion in newspaper columns across the country, so there has clearly been discussion. Younger people who want to go into farming face real obstacles, and this change could help.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I thank my fellow East Anglian MP for his contribution. Am I surprised? No, I am not entirely surprised, because people are very fed up and depressed, and they have been depressed for a long time. I understand why it is difficult, but my job is to reassure and talk calmly to people, and that is what I shall continue to do.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  The hon. Member asks what we did. What we did was look at the farming budget and ensure that we protected it, to allow his constituents and constituents across the country to take part in the schemes that will support them in that important transition.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend makes a powerful point. Not only do those people seem to relish finding ways of creatively running their accounts, but some of them even take money to write columns about it.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I see the hon. Gentleman nodding. He is well versed in that; he knows.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I will have to go away and get the answer to that, and I will write to him.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The core message of the Budget is to get our finances stable and on track, which will allow us to invest in the public services that everyone needs, and particularly those in rural areas who are struggling with those issues.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I remember those awful times very well. “Money is no object” is not something that was said by my party, I can tell her; it was said by the now Opposition, and perhaps it was not exactly the right way to put it. Extreme weather events are a challenge for all of us across the country. My colleagues and I will work with everyone to find the best ways to resolve them, but let us not for one moment imagine that this is a simple issue to solve. The flooding challenges are very real and we are working on them. I look forward to further discussions with the hon. Lady.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  The hon. Gentleman well knows the financial state of the country that we inherited. Difficult decisions had to be made.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I can give my hon. Friend that assurance.

• 4 Nov 2024 · Budget: Implications for Farming Communities · Hansard source

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  I think it is time for people to take up the opportunities of the schemes that the previous Government introduced and that we are continuing, which allow them to farm in an environmentally and nature-friendly way. It will be good for the future and will produce food for this country. There is a very bright future for British farming.