McGlone: Executive must provide dedicated funding for farmers

He was speaking after a debate in the Assembly on Tuesday.

From next year funding for agriculture from the UK Government will no longer be ring-fenced and instead be included as part of the block grant.

Mid Ulster MLA Mr McGlone said: “We have seen large-scale protests from our farming community in recent days around the latest UK Government budget and what it means for them. The SDLP is concerned changes to Inheritance Tax and Agricultural Property Relief will cause issues for farmers and have committed ourselves to working alongside other parties and the UK Government and Executive to seek positive solutions.

“However, we must also acknowledge the damage caused to our farming community and agricultural sector by Brexit and successive UK Governments who capped levels of support in 2020, with no accounting for inflation, and have now removed ring-fencing. This was a direct result of the Brexit that some parties here campaigned for and now decry the results.

“This means that funding that would previously have been allocated to agriculture will now be up for grabs for every Executive department, competing with pressures on Health, Education and all the other challenges facing the Executive. A failure to ring-fence this funding will surely cost our farming community millions, when we should have been seeing yearly increases.

“To support our farming and agricultural sectors and recognise the huge contribution they make to our society and economy the Executive should commit to ring-fenced funding with a yearly uplift in line with inflation. That will provide farmers with the certainty they need and allow this key to sector to thrive.”