Tractor tax critic hired to head up farming review

A former National Farmers’ Union chief who previously warned the tractor tax” would wipe out the family farm” has been hired by the government to lead a review into British farming.

- MILLIE COOKE

As part of the government’s latest attempt to show they are listening to farmers and to rebuild trust within the community, environment secretary Steve Reed has now hired Baroness Minette Batters, who has previously voiced opposition to the extension of inheritance tax to family farms, to lead a review of farm profitability.

The review, which will see the cross-bench peer provide recommendations to the department, is aimed at helping to ensure the farming sector is “more viable, self-sustaining and competitive in the long term”.

Her appointment comes less than six months after the former National Farmers’ Union chief warned the tractor tax will “wipe out the family farm”, warning that the levy is “devoid of understanding of how the rural economy functions”.

Writing for Country Life magazine in December, Lady Batters – who worked for the union for 10 years – expressed “grave concerns about advice given by the Treasury to the government” and accused civil servants of having failed to engage with Defra when developing the plans.