‘Let down', ‘taken for granted', ‘betrayed.' These are the phrases I am hearing time and time again when speaking to farmers as I campaign across rural Cumbria.
Many put their faith in the Conservatives at the ballot box in 2019 to secure a better deal for them outside of the European Union.
Clearly I am no Brexiteer and campaigned strongly for Remain during the referendum, but I always saw moving away from the flawed Common Agricultural Policy as a potential rare Brexit benefit – if done right.
But either by accident or by design, the Conservative Government have completely botched the transition from Basic Payments to the Environmental Land Management Scheme. This has left farmers with their income drastically cut, with many finding it nigh on impossible to access the new environmental schemes.
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At a time when war in Europe has hugely disrupted supply chains, food security has never been more important in my lifetime.
So the thing that has left farmers completely bewildered and frankly outraged is that the Conservative Government are introducing policies which are actively disincentivising farmers from producing food.
Not only that, but the food that our farmers are producing is being completely undermined by the Conservative Government's decision to sell them out in trade deals with Australia and New Zealand.
The Government's schemes have instead put money in the hands of wealthy landlords and permitted the exploitation of tenant farmers.
No industry, no part of British society, has been more betrayed or let down by this Conservative government than farming.
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Rishi Sunak's desperate dash to a farm in Devon the other day was too little too late. Voters in rural Britain are deserting his party in their droves.
Íæż½ã½ã are looking for change. But many I speak to say they feel uninspired, and even distrusting of Labour. 'They just do not get rural life', one farmer said to me the other day.
The Labour Party's decision to devote a derisory 87 words in their manifesto to farming shows why many are right to be sceptical.
The Liberal Democrats have a huge opportunity to show that we are the party of rural Britain that will fight for our farmers.
Alongside great farming people like Stuart Roberts and Julia Aglionby, I have fought for the Lib Dems to have a credible and positive plan for farming to support the incredible and overlooked role farmers have to play. We have pledged an extra £1 billion a year to support profitable, sustainable and nature-friendly farming.
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And I am also proud that we're campaigning for a National Food Strategy to ensure food security, tackle rising food prices, end food poverty and improve health and nutrition.
In the remaining weeks of this General Election, it is up to us to convince farmers that we can earn their trust and be a strong alternative to stand up for farming in Parliament to help them in their awesome mission of feeding the nation and saving the planet.
