St Albans MP Daisy Cooper speaks up for farmers at PMQs

This comes after the St Albans MP joined constituents and colleagues at a rally outside Parliament yesterday, fighting against the government's plan to implement inheritance tax to farm land.

Victoria Collins MP, Stuart Roberts (Harpenden farmer, former NFU Deputy President and chair of the Liberal Democrat Food and Farming Working Group) and Daisy Cooper MP (Image: Herts Lib Dems)

At Prime Minister's Questions, Ms Cooper told MPs in Parliament this afternoon: “Somebody else who was very worried about the Budget is Cathy.

"Cathy is a farmer in my constituency of St Albans, and she told me yesterday that she thinks the Government changes simply do not make sense.

“The changes mean that her family may have to pay a bill which will force them to sell land, which makes food production unviable. At the same time, the Government has not closed the land buying tax loophole that can be exploited by equity firms and the super wealthy.

“Farmers told me yesterday that they feel as though they have been betrayed by the Conservatives, that they now feel that they have also been lied to by Labour. Will the Deputy Prime Minister think again on this measure so that our farmers can feed Britain?”

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner replied: “I’m sorry to hear that Cathy is distressed by the – what I would say is scaremongering – around what the Labour Party is doing.

"The Budget delivered £5 billion for farming over the next two years, a record amount. The last government failed to spend £300 million on farmers, and our plan is sensible, fair and proportionate, and protects the smaller estate while fixing public services that they rely on.”

She went on to tackle the issue of national insurance contributions (NIC) for social care providers. 

During PMQs she said: “I warn the Deputy Prime Minister that increasing national insurance contributions on social care providers would make the crisis in social care worse.

"Now, OBR figures suggest that the increase in NICs will cost more to social care providers than the money that the Government has announced for that sector in the Budget, meaning that that measure alone could withdraw £200 million out of the sector.

“Will the Deputy Prime Minister speak with the Chancellor to make sure that at the very least, health and care providers are protected from taking the hit?”

Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner replied: “We wanted to ensure that we protected social care. That is why we confirmed £600 million of new grant funding for social care next year, an uplift to local government spending and an £86 million increase to the disabled facilities grant.

“Our Employment Rights Bill will help deliver the first ever fair pay agreement for the social care sector as well, and that will also make sure that the NHS is funded to help with the social care situation.”