UUP slams budget as 'throwing farming communities under their tractors'.
The Labour Chancellor’s autumn budget has “effectively thrown our farming communities under their tractors”, according to Mr Robert Carmichael, the East Londonderry Ulster Unionist Association Chairman.
In a hard-hitting statement on behalf of the UUP association reacting to the budget, Mr Carmichael added that the Chancellor’s statement to the Commons “represented nothing more than a financial kick in the teeth to agricultural sector families across Ulster”.
Mr Carmichael said: “We as an association, fully endorse the comments from our Westminster colleague, Robin Swann, the MP for South Antrim, when he said that farm families across Northern Ireland have been abandoned by this Chancellor as there was no movement on the Farm Family Inheritance Tax.”
Mr Carmichael added: “Given that there have been U-turns by this Labour Government in other areas, we in the UUP association in East Londonderry expected that the Chancellor would show some political compassion and throw a much-needed financial life-line to our hard-pressed agricultural sector by axing the Farm Family Inheritance Tax.
“Her refusal to even hint at any movement on this deplorable tax shows that the Labour Government does not care about our farming community, or they are being very badly advised on the issue despite all the rigorous campaigning and engagements from the farming sector.
“The phrase is often used about throwing folk ‘under a bus’. All this autumn budget had done is to throw our entire agricultural community, not just in East Londonderry, but right across Northern Ireland, ‘under their tractors’.
“Our farming community now faces a very bleak Christmas and potentially an even more dire 2026 as a result of this atrocious autumn budget.
“The farming community cannot even take a crumb of comfort from the Chancellor stating that an additional £370 million is coming to Stormont given that the Sinn Fein Finance Minister has admitted he is £400 million short this year alone.
“In spite of this £400 million financial black hole, we in the UUP association call on the Stormont Executive and the Agriculture Minister in particular to ensure that a sizeable chunk of this additional £370 million is diverted to help our hard-pressed farming community.
“We in the UUP know this will be a hard fight to get a slice of this cash cake, but the very future of many farms in this constituency may now be on the line financially.
“Practically, what is urgently needed in the short-term is the entire scrapping of the Farm Family Inheritance Tax. This would give a clear signal to our farming families that they have not been totally abandoned by this Labour administration.
“This Government says it wants to help the working people. Given how our farming community has been ignored by this autumn budget, such talk is merely empty rhetoric. Our farming community demands positive action on issues such as the inheritance tax, not meaningless speeches,” said Mr Carmichael on behalf of the UUP association.