David Chadwick

Wales is the poorest of our four nations. It has the highest levels of unemployment and the lowest wages. The family farm tax is yet another example of how this Government are going to hurt the Welsh economy with full knowledge of the consequences. They have decided to hit Wales, in whose economy agriculture is a major sector, with an extra tax. It is, quite frankly, an unacceptable and horrific way for this Government to start off. Family farms are the backbone of our rural economy, the heart of our food system and central to the survival of many communities in Wales. People in Wales are shocked that this Labour Government have decided to come for one of our major industries. People in Wales are accustomed to the Conservatives unpicking our major industries and taking them out—they expect that—but they expect better from the Labour party. When family farms are hit, the damage spreads far beyond the farm gate; it hurts vets, suppliers, hauliers, markets, local shops and rural high streets. That is why it was so deeply disappointing that 23 of Wales’s 27 Labour MPs chose to vote this policy through despite clear warnings from rural Wales. The scale of what is being put at risk is enormous.