NFU Conference: New SFI scheme not enough to repair farmers' 'crisis of confidence' in Labour

Shadow Defra Secretary Victoria Atkins said the deckchairs have been rearranged one too many times for farmers since Labour came to office in 2024

Chris Brayford
clock • 5 min read
Shadow Defra Secretary Victoria Atkins: "Here we are in February, nearly in March, and they are proposing to open this scheme in June, more than a year since they stopped the original scheme, whilst farmers have been flailing around having a cash flow crisis as a consequence. I cannot see anyone trusting what this Secretary or any other Secretary now with this Government as they will assume they will break their promises as they did with the family farm tax, and as they did with SFI without having a replacement scheme."
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Shadow Defra Secretary Victoria Atkins: "Here we are in February, nearly in March, and they are proposing to open this scheme in June, more than a year since they stopped the original scheme, whilst farmers have been flailing around having a cash flow crisis as a consequence. I cannot see anyone trusting what this Secretary or any other Secretary now with this Government as they will assume they will break their promises as they did with the family farm tax, and as they did with SFI without having a replacement scheme."

The Government has still failed to grasp the true depths of skepticism and distrust that farmers have for ministers after announcing its new Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) for 2026. At NFU Conference...

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