‘More work for less money. Such is life for many publicans’ | Politics | News
Last night, while the Chancellor showed off his pint chugging skills to an adoring pack of political anoraks in London, rural organisations busily scoured through his 166-page Budget. The overwhelming conclusion, I’m disappointed to report, is that he missed a golden opportunity to reset the government’s fractured relationship with the countryside.
Earlier this month, the Countryside Alliance wrote to the Chancellor urging him to take a first step towards a rural reset. From ditching the disastrous Family Farm Tax, scrapping VAT on heating oil to reducing the National Insurance burden on rural businesses, we provided ten practical policies that would make a real difference to rural people.
An opportunity for the government to show it understood the hardships they face. Sadly, the government ignored virtually all of them.
On the face of it, there were some initial rays of hope when John Healey took to the dispatch box. Extending small business rates relief could help rural businesses, but when coupled with hikes in employment costs it remains to be seen whether hardworking rural business owners will see any real benefit.
Andy Burnham pledged to revisit the hated Family Farm Tax. He has failed to do so.
One publican I keep in touch with pointed out that the minimum wage increase would impact the number of people he employed during the less predictable and tourist dense months.
Added to that, the increase on beer duty will force him to absorb the loss. More work for less money. Such is life for many publicans, who feel duty bound to keep the pub going to hold together often fragile rural communities.
A temporary extension to the red diesel duty cut is helpful, but, crazily, this reduction will end in July next year – just as harvest begins.
Suspending tariffs on kerosene heating oil and fertiliser are welcome moves but it is unclear how it will trickle down to make a genuine difference to the consumer.
Before becoming Prime Minister, Andy Burnham pledged to revisit the hated Family Farm Tax. He has failed to do so. This tax continues to tarnish the government’s rural record.
It is preventing farmers from making important decisions about their livelihoods, hampering the government’s own mission of creating good growth in every postcode.
Working with the custodians of our countryside, we will continue to vocally oppose this tax and call for its abolition. The farmers I know have no intention of giving up.
Scrapping the Family Farm Tax is the only way to show the government is serious about a rural reset.
Additionally, farmers have been encouraged for years to diversify their businesses by creating holiday lets, among other measures; but anyone who has done so is now being punished by yet another increase to the property income tax paid on such lets, further threatening the viability of their business.
At a time when the government should be increasing support for farmers, and in the wake of last month’s Sustainable Farming Incentive debacle which saw the window to apply for vital funding closed in under 6 hours, it has slashed DEFRA’s funding for 2027-28 by £100m.
Sadly, this Budget does little to give “breathing space” or fresh hope to the countryside.
If this government is serious about growth in every postcode, including in the countryside, it must urgently address the plethora of problems facing rural businesses.
Scrapping the Family Farm Tax is the only way to show the government is serious about a rural reset.
