NFU chief warns Labour diversification must not replace food

Speaking at Labour Coast & Country’s Great British Countryside: Driving Rural Growth panel in Liverpool, Mr Bradshaw cautioned that too many family farms are being forced to depend on secondary income streams just to survive.

“Diversification should be the icing on the cake, and the cake should be food production,” he told the audience. “All too often, we are subsidising food production from the diversification to the point that food production is not worthwhile.”

The session, hosted by Labour Coast & Country co-founder Hywel Lloyd, explored rural priorities including food security, inheritance tax, connectivity and investment. Mr Bradshaw pressed MPs to honour Labour’s manifesto pledge that 'food security is national security' by putting domestic production at the centre of policy.

“Unless [food production] becomes a government priority, then it’s always going to be the poor relation… We haven’t seen policies that flow from the Labour manifesto line that food security is national security,” he said.

On inheritance tax, Mr Bradshaw criticised proposals to impose a 20% charge on agricultural assets worth more than £1m, due in 2026. “What happened in October [the Autumn Budget] was done to farming, without engagement, without understanding and without clear purpose,” he said.

Labour MPs Jayne Kirkham, Jess Asato, Sean Woodcock and Maya Ellis each stressed the party’s desire to rebuild trust in rural areas. Ms Kirkham admitted: “We don’t produce nearly half of our food… So there is a lot of work to do.”

Closing on a hopeful note, Mr Bradshaw said: “Those conversations have given me real belief that we can turn this corner… I’m not going to tell you that things are going to change, but they could change - and that gives me renewed purpose.”