PMQs stay: Keir Starmer faces Kemi Badenoch as farmers descend on Westminster
Keir Starmer will face Kemi Badenoch at PMQs as disgruntled farmers vent their fury outside Parliament.
Tractors were circling Parliament Square ahead of the Commons clash as anger continues to grow over Labour’s inheritance tax shake-up. The Government says it has no plans to change the plans, which ministers say will affect wealthy landowners with agricultural land worth over £3million.
A protest is set to take place at noon, followed by a slow drive around London. A similar demonstration last month attracted more than 10,000, including TV host Jeremy Clarkson.
Mr Starmer’s official spokesman said: “We have been very clear we are not going to change course on this policy. It was necessary to take tough decisions at the Budget and the spending review and those decisions remain.”
He said the Government had provided £5billion to the farming budget over two years.
Public sector pay proposal ‘just the start of process’
A Cabinet minister has said Government proposals to raise pay by 2.8% for millions of public sector workers are just the start of the process as she sought to quell a union backlash.
Justice Secretary Shabana Mahmood said she would not “get ahead of” the recommendations of reviewing bodies, which will consider the Government’s suggestions before offering departments advice on levels of remuneration.
Unions representing teachers, doctors and nurses have condemned proposals among Whitehall departments to increase workers’ pay by 2.8% next year, arguing that the rise, which is 0.2% above projected inflation, is too low.
The Justice Secretary told BBC Breakfast on Wednesday: “So what I would say to trade unions and everybody else… this is the start of that process, and of course, I would hope that they recognise that the Government’s fiscal inheritance has been extremely difficult, and we do have to make sure that the books overall balance as well, and that pay is on a sustainable footing. This is the start of that process, and I wouldn’t want to get ahead of where we think the pay review bodies might ultimately make their recommendations.”
Prison release was one-off says Justice Secretary
Labour’s Justice Secretary has pledged there will be no repeat of this year’s emergency prison releases.
Shabana Mahmood said she would not be announcing any more emergency programmes “of the kind” seen since she took office. Thousands of inmates are being released after serving just 40% of their sentences in order to free up over 5,000 places amid fears of jails running out of space.
Ms Mahmood told Sky News: “I’m not going to do any more emergency releases of the kind either that I’ve had to do at the beginning or as the last Conservative government did with their early release scheme as well. I want to avoid that scenario. We will not be doing that.”
She said ministers are instead looking at measures such as home detention curfew to ease the strain on the prison system after years of Tory neglect.
Tractors arrive outside Parliament for inheritance tax protest
The first tractors have arrived in Westminster with much fanfare, honking and drawing cheers from some passersby near Parliament Square in central London.
The tractors are driving around Parliament Square, many of them flying the Union flag. They are also decorated with signs that read: “No farmers, no food”, “Not hungry, thank a farmer”, and “Save British Farming”.
Another sign read “Starmer Farmer Harmer”, and a second one “Reeves and Starmer, grave robbers”. There is a police presence in the area to cover the protest which is set to draw thousands of demonstrators on Wednesday.
The “RIP British Farming” protest is organised by Kent Fairness for Farmers and Save British Farming in response to the “toxic” Budget, which included changes to inheritance tax for agricultural businesses and a faster phaseout of EU-era subsidies in favour of environmental payments.
Asked if Mr Starmer was concerned farmers could get more militant and restrict food supplies, a spokesman for the PM said: “We have been very clear we are not going to change course on this policy.
“It was necessary to take tough decisions at the Budget and the spending review and those decisions remain. But our commitment to farmers is steadfast and our message to farmers is clear, that is why we provided £5 billion to the farming budget over two years including more money than ever for sustainable food production.”
