Watching developments since the 2024 Budget on the 30th of October has seen, debate, support and plans for the Farmers March in London evolve – which we have every reason to believe is being planned as well and responsibly as a protest can, by The Farming Forum.
However, as we near the 19th of November, suggestions of holding back food supplies to supermarkets, refusing to accommodate sewage sludge and bringing the country to a standstill threaten to take the whole crisis that U.K. Farming and our Food Security are experiencing, in a direction that could make this hidden Food Crisis considerably worse.
The growing strength of feeling really does risk giving those directly involved that Farmers have the power to solve every problem in one hit. And that they should therefore take it.
However, issues surrounding changes to Farmers Inheritance Tax do not stand alone in isolation. The breadth and depth of issues about how the entire UK Food Chain is being misused are both highly complex and considerably bigger than many farmers even realise.
And whilst any Farmer or Supporter may believe that headlines and commentary suggest the Government is ‘now on the run’ and will make concessions or change their mind if pushed hard enough, militancy of any kind at this stage, is more likely to lead to even worse outcomes for the industry than the drastic improvements and turnarounds that those banging drums and driving tractors may have on their current wish list.
Former Labour Advisor, John McTernan has told everyone, very loudly and very openly in an interview that that the U.K. does not need Small Farmers.
Whilst Starmer has attempted to ‘disown’ this suggestion, and whether our politicians are stupid and are doing stupid things or not, we would all be foolish to not accept and work with the reality that the people running this country until perhaps 2029, no longer see value in the UKs Small Farms.
We must all be very clear that if the Government believes that ‘Small Farms aren’t necessary, when they are not talking about Farms that are actually that small, the Government is not going to do anything to reward an industry for causing them problems, when they already have a picture of the future that surely resembles many if not all Small Farms being closed down.
We shouldn’t doubt that the Inheritance Tax move itself was a very big ‘tell’.
Politicians have now reached the stage in an ongoing process of UK Farming viability removal, where they no longer believe it necessary to show any care for Farmers.
With the belief that the only helpful thing I can do is to share what I know and understand, I sat down to write Who Controls Our Food Controls Our Future with the aim that anyone genuinely interested would have the option of a quick walk through the entire background of the hidden Food Crisis.
I had been writing about our politicians and why they no longer care, and had a jaw dropping moment when the very serious warning from the political classes which is the McTernan comment was so very quickly shared after the 30th October Budget.
Right now, the direction of travel for U.K. Farming as we know it is terminal. 3rd party interests right across the Food Chain – NOT just the politicians themselves – believe in a future where the Food we eat will either be a source of guaranteed profit for corporate giants or just another governance tool for societal control.
Such aims require that Food Production cannot be left in even the most isolated pair of hands. Because any form of independence in the Food Chain will be a massive threat.
The evidence is there and no longer even hiding in plain sight.
Politicians across our political sphere today do not fear losing Small Farmers. But they will be very fearful of even a moment of social unrest and are unlikely to respond well to any acts that create problems for them that might suggest to the Public that they are not in control.
Much like the follow-up to the unrest in Southport in the Summer this Government is likely to work like they are on steroids to achieve anything they believe necessary to stop Farmers from ever having the opportunity to make them look bad again.
We ALL need to realise that the dystopian nightmare is already here.
We just haven’t stood back to view the whole wood yet, rather than each of our different trees.
We all need to wake up quickly and begin playing a very different game, before it really is too late.
The next step, could regrettably come very quickly following any action or events that aren’t thought through properly. And such actions – even if only involving just a few, would be akin to the whole Farming Industry shooting itself in the foot.
Not only do People across the UK need OUR Farming industry to survive. WE ALL need UK Farmers to take back all of the control that they have lost, putting Food and Food Production back at the very heart of our Local Communities, as just the start.
No help and certainly nothing good will come now from anyone or any organisation that profits in any way from where UK Farming is heading today. Other than lip service, contractual devices, sops and incentives that will keep Farmers doing what those interests want Farmers to do and keep Farmers believing that things will get better at some unknown point in the future.
Meanwhile these interests will continue to rinse every last penny that they can from ALL of us, whilst systematically destroying the ability of Farmers, People and Communities to have Food Chain Independence at any level and of any kind.
Please don’t fall into the trap of giving any of them even the slightest reason to make things worse for Farmers, whilst they still can.
Otherwise, what is left of UK Farming may not be able to recover.
Adam Tugwell 
2 thoughts on “Dear Farmers: PLEASE don’t mess with the Law of Unintended Consequences on Tuesday. A well-organised March in London will be enough to show how miffed you are”