LATEST FARMERS EVENING HEARS OF NFU’S POLITICAL LOBBYING ROLE
After a year which saw a snap General Election, hundreds of new MPs entering the House of Commons, and the inheritance tax announcement in the autumn Budget, the political lobbying work undertaken by the National Farmers’ Union has never been more important.
That was the message given to dozens of farmers at the latest Lovewell Blake/NFU Farmers’ Evening by the NFU’s external affairs manager Neeve McGinty, who is responsible for delivering its external affairs strategy, building collaborative relationships with key external politicians, civil servants and stakeholders, and raising the NFU’s campaigning and lobbying profile in Westminster.
From an extensive pre-Election programme of candidate briefings to co-ordinating the #StopTheFamilyFarmTax campaign, the NFU’s external affairs team has had a uniquely busy year.
“The past year has been truly extraordinary in Westminster, with a snap general election, a change in government, a string of brand new MPs, and then the Budget,” said Ms McGinty.
“The Election saw quite a lot of our key champion MPs stand down. These are our voices in Westminster, the people who will be tabling debates and questions and really highlighting NFU asks on our behalf, also people with a lot of experience as well.
“So we had a lot of work to do in terms of building up relationships with new MPs and really safeguarding the NFU’s familiarity and reputation in that political sphere. We definitely couldn't take for granted that new MPs will come in and know who we are and how to work with us.”
Ms McGinty outlined how the NFU organised an extensive programme of candidate engagement, inviting candidates from all political parties on farm visits, and briefing on the NFU’s manifesto.
“Once the Election was over, we set about building relationships with new MPs. We were trying to engage that new cohort and really give them a bit of an all-encompassing understanding of food and farming.”
All of this work proved prescient, given the bombshell announcements in the autumn Budget on Agricultural Property Relief and inheritance tax – but also all of the other measures such as national insurance and national minimum wage increases.
“I have never seen the NFU so busy and turn out so much in such a short space of time,” said Ms McGinty. “On top of the public campaign, we have had 237 meetings with MPs, meetings with the Food Security Minister, with the DEFRA Secretary of State, and their opposition counterparts as well.
“The amount of PMQs which have been asked on this topic is truly astounding. This is definitely an issue that's not going away, there is really a lot of buy in from the opposition parties; pretty much everything from urging questions to efforts, select committee evidence sessions, even a meeting with the Prime Minister.”
Lovewell Blake agricultural partner Ryan Lincoln, who chaired the event, said, “We have all seen the campaigning which followed the autumn Budget, but it was both fascinating and really useful for farmers to understand the huge preparatory work undertaken by the NFU in the political sphere, and the ongoing lobbying which happens every day.”
The next Lovewell Blake/NFU Farmers’ Evening takes place at Halesworth Golf club on Wednesday 7th May at 7.30pm, when Peter Craven of Natural England will be the speaker. Attendance is free, but places need to be booked in advance, by visiting https://www.lovewell-blake.co.uk/events.