Starmer accused of ‘holding farmers in contempt’ after axing post-Brexit payment

Ministers are being accused of “treating farmers with contempt” after halting applications for a major post-Brexit payment scheme in what is already being dubbed as “a war on farmers”.

Tory leader Kemi Badenoch launched a blistering attack after Labour announced late on Tuesday night that it would cancel the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), just six weeks before farmers are set to file their tax returns.

The move comes after Labour had already enraged the farming community by dragging them into paying inheritance tax for the first time with a 20 per cent levy on agricultural assets worth £1m or more.

The Conservative leader, who also took the fight to Sir Keir in Prime Minister’s Questions, said “Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves do not care about rural communities. The Labour government treats farmers with contempt.”

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Farmers are furious with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) decision, which National Farmers' Union president Tom Bradshaw said was “another shattering blow”.

Labour has already seen massive protests from farmers with hundreds of tractors descending on Westminster and the latest development threatens further action.

But during PMQs, Sir Keir Starmer said that the Tories had cancelled the scheme in 2022 and 2023 “without six weeks notice”.

He said: “The SFI schemes have operated to give considerable support so far. There have been a number of schemes which were closed and replaced. We do support farmers, we will be putting more details forward at the spending review.”

The scheme which pays farmers in England for environmental practices such as insecticide-free farming, planting wildflower strips and managing ponds and hedgerows, was fully allocated for this year.

But the government has stopped accepting new applications for the incentive – the largest part of the new environmental land management (ELM) programme which replaced EU-era farming subsidies – with immediate effect.

“This is another shattering blow to English farms, delivered yet again with no warning, no understanding of the industry and a complete lack of compassion or care,” said Mr Bradshaw.

He said the industry had warned “time and time again” that large parts of the SFI were poorly designed, and he accused Defra of being a “failing department” with farmers left paying the price for chaos.

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"The awful dilemma now faced by many farmers is whether to turn their backs on environmental work and just farm as hard as they can to survive.”

Defra said 50,000 farm businesses and more than half of all farmed land was now in environmental land management schemes, which have an overall budget of £5bn over two years.

Any new SFI offer would not be available until spring 2026, leaving most farmers facing an 18-month gap before fresh payments.

Martin Lines, chief executive of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, has warned the move will leave some farmers “in a really difficult financial position”.

"This has left many farmers feeling frustrated and let down, with no clear opportunity to be rewarded for delivering public goods in the near future," he said.

Robbie Moore, shadow minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, questioned how farmers can expect to plan for the future “when this vindictive Labour government change the rules without any notice”.

“Hugely damaging for business, for food production and for the environment – and of course detrimental for our farmers own health and wellbeing,” he said.

The shadow Defra secretary, Victoria Atkins, has also spoken out: “I didn’t think this Labour government could show more disdain for British farming and the countryside - and then they go and do this.”

And the chair of the environment, food and rural affairs committee, Alistair Carmichael, described the move as "another very regrettable decision" by Defra.

"Farmers are already under immense pressure from a perfect storm of adverse conditions. For many farmers, this latest move by the government will only add to the uncertainty and insecurity of their livelihoods and threaten their financial viability,” he said.