For farmers in West Cumbria, the way government supports farming and nature recovery is not an abstract policy debate – it is about whether family farms can survive and pass on a viable business to the next generation. That is why I have made securing a devolved farm-funding settlement for Cumbria one of my top priorities in Westminster.
At the moment, too many decisions about support for upland farms are taken hundreds of miles away by people who do not know our fell farms, our commons or our communities. Cumbria has the largest concentration of common land in England and a farming system that underpins our UNESCO World Heritage landscape. Yet farmers here are having to navigate complex national schemes, falling incomes and growing uncertainty.
I believe there is a better way. For months I have been pressing ministers to back a Cumbria-led pilot that would put tens of millions of pounds of farm support and nature recovery funding every year under local control. That would mean decisions taken in Cumbria, by people who understand our land and our businesses – farmers, commoners, local councils, the National Park and conservation groups working together.
Local leaders, including from the National Park Authority and farmer-led nature recovery projects, have been clear that devolved funding would allow us to tailor support to our upland landscapes and to the realities of Cumbrian farming. Instead of one-size-fits-all schemes, we could design simpler, more practical options that reward food production, protect hill farming and restore nature in a way that strengthens rural life.
Some farmers might ask how this ambition sits alongside my recent vote on changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR). I understand the concern that vote has caused. Although only a small number of farms locally will be directly affected, many worry it signals a wider shift in how government sees farming. I take that anxiety seriously.
Before the vote, I argued hard inside government for the interests of West Cumbrian farmers. Those discussions helped secure important adjustments to the original proposals. Voting against the measure would have required me to leave the Labour benches and in so doing, lose the ability to shape policy for farmers and many others in West Cumbria. This would have sat badly with me because I’m in politics to get stuff done. I want to be in a position to influence decisions that matter for our communities not just on tax, but on planning, housing, transport, education, nuclear and the NHS.
You may not agree with every decision I make, and I respect that. But I hope you can see the thread that runs through my work: to get more decisions and more resources into Cumbrian hands. I will keep pressing ministers to let Cumbria lead – and listening to farmers as we fight for a fairer future for rural communities.
Farmers can sign up to attend my next Farmers’ Forum at 6pm on Friday 30th January at joshmacalister.uk/meetjosh.
Josh MacAlister MP 