Steve Reed OBE, the “townie” environment minister, was exposed as being out of his depth once again when he tried to give a speech to the annual conference of the National Farmers’ Union held in Westminster yesterday.
The Labour MP for Streatham and Croydon North, local party members will say, has spent much of his first 12 years in Parliament dodging difficult questions and any scrutiny of his conduct.
Yesterday, there was no hiding place for Reed.
Farmers disrupted Reed’s speech, with loud horns from tractors parked outside the hall and protesters unfurling banners in front of him.
Reed told those inside the NFU conference that he could not give them “the answer many of you want on inheritance tax”, adding that he “understood” the strength of feeling in the room – politicians’ doublespeak meaning there is nothing he intends to do about it.
NFU president Tom Bradshaw told the conference that the inheritance tax changes are “morally wrong and economically flawed”.
During the conference, Reed, took questions from the audience.
He was told many older farmers “were wishing their lives away” and wanted to die before the tax change comes into force next year.
Reed said farmers would still have to pay at half the rate of others and would have ten years to do so.
Under the government’s changes, from April 2026, inherited agricultural assets worth more than £1million will be liable to the tax at 20% – half the usual inheritance tax rate. Farm assets have previously been exempt from tax, a generous loophole exploited by several millionaires who have bought up farmland – such as James Dyson and Jeremy Clarkson.
The government has said that the changes will only impact the wealthiest 500 farms each year, a number disputed by the farmers’ union which estimates up to 70,000 farms could be affected overall.
Other allowances could mean that a couple who are married or in a civil partnership could pass on a farm worth as much as £3million without tax implications.
Bradshaw said the government had broken promises made before the election and had increased the mental health pressures on farmers, calling for it to correct the tax policy urgently. “We will fight this family farm tax until ministers do the right thing,” he said.
“Frankly, this government needs a reset moment with farming, where they face up to the reality of how much the industry is struggling.”
In his speech, Reed outlined plans for a 25-year farming food strategy, and said it would ensure farming is a “sector which recognises restoring nature is not in competition with sustainable food production, but is essential to it”.
Struggling to make himself heard against the noise of tractors outside on Parliament Square, Reed announced measures including extending the seasonal worker visa scheme for five years, support for precision breeding and new technology.
He also announced new requirements for government catering contracts to favour “high-quality, high-welfare products that British producers are well-placed to meet”.
Reed was always regarded as an unusual appointment for the DEFRA brief, an effective demotion on Keir Starmer’s front bench, it is suggested, because Reed (who has no legal training) when shadow justice minister, was regularly in conflict with Yvette Cooper, now the Home Secretary.
This latest challenge to Reed’s ability to operate at ministerial level comes within days of Reed boasting on social media of passing a law that bans bonuses for the already very well-paid bosses of the polluting water monopolies.
“You’ve literally just sat on the sidelines as water companies have hiked bills by up to 47%!” iC columnist Andrew Fisher wrote on social media in response to a Steve Reed tweet.
“People are getting ripped off, and you’ve passed a law to stop someone on a six-figure salary (who should be in jail for reckless polluting) from getting a bonus on top of that? Big whoop.”
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