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Lord Howard of Rising (Con)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 29 January 2025

Debate

National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill

Contribution

My Lords, I rise to speak to Amendment 36 in my name. I declare my interests as a farmer and an employer. I have already spoken about a lot of what is relevant to this amendment in an earlier stage, so I will spare your Lordships from any repetition. Farming is a difficult business with unpredictable factors that do not appear in every business: weather; insect life; the ability of animals to damage themselves, and so on. Of course, the most difficult thing of all is the uncertainty of what they will receive for their product. Commodity prices vary greatly, not only from year to year but in the time between the planting and harvesting of a crop. The Government have already hit farmers with the 20% inheritance tax on agricultural land. To burden them now with an increase in national insurance contributions is brutal.

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