East Anglia farmers meet with shadow minister: ‘We feel undervalued’
27th June 2025
Members of East Anglia Farmers Unite shared their worries about the future of farming during a meeting with the shadow minister for environment, food and rural affairs, Robbie Moore, when he visited Ipswich.
The meeting that took place yesterday, 26th June, was organised by Suffolk’s agricultural chaplain Graham Miles. Dozens of farmers from across East Anglia attended the discussion to voice their concerns about Labour government policies, including changes to inheritance tax, the unexpected SFI application closure and cheap food imports.
Shadow minister Robbie Moore promised to take the issues to other members of parliament and reopen the discussion of possible caps or a ‘clawback’ on the IHT policy change.
Russel Abbott, third-generation Suffolk farmer and organiser of local farmers’ demonstrations, said during the meeting: “My father is 81 years old, and he still works seven days a week. I think that farming has to be in your blood to want to keep doing it for little or sometimes no reward.
“We’re simply trying to exist at the moment, but the government expects us to pay 20% inheritance tax. Having daughters myself, I think that when they inherit the farm, they will have to pay the same tax again. All this in an industry with too much red tape.”
Mr Abbott added that the farming industry should be protected by the government and food security should be the priority.
‘Politicians should help us rather than work against us’
Young farmer Harry Suckling from Holbrook said he attended the meeting to talk to MP Moore about what the Conservative Party could do for farmers if it gets into power again.
“It would be nice to know that they’re right up to speed with how we’re feeling and what the feeling is on the ground. Politicians should help us rather than work against us like the current government does.
“However, we’ve organised many events like this, and they still don’t seem to be listening to our concerns. They haven’t even come to the table yet to talk about it,” he continued.
Harry said that currently “everything is against farmers”, including weather and the government.
Harry’s father, Chris Suckling, added: “I, as a farmer, feel undervalued. I feel like the government has let us down. It has let the whole industry down.
“I don’t want it to happen, but I sometimes feel like it would be good if we had some way of making the country feel hungry to value us again, like they did after the Second World War.”
‘Catastrophic consequences’
In response to the points presented by East Anglia farmers, Mr Moore, who highlighted his agricultural background, said that farmers and farming representatives, such as NFU and CLA, have done a great job of uniting and putting their case against changes to IHT before the government.
He continued: “What’s been incredibly frustrating is the government has not shown any chink in their armour so far in being willing to either accept this or realise the negative impact of it on food security, or indicate that they’re willing to change before this decision is voted on.
“We have until the autumn period to make sure that the government absolutely realises the negative impacts of all of this. This isn’t just a financial impact. This legislation will have impacts on the emotional health and livelihoods of farming families.”
Mr Moore added that the Conservatives are promising a return to 100% agricultural property relief and business property relief, if they regain power at the next election.
“The consequences of no change being made by any government minister will not only be catastrophic to farming family businesses but will also be catastrophic for UK food production, as well as for the next generations of farmers,” he concluded.
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