Over 100 Conservative MPs have called for answers and action after the shambolic managment of SFI26 👇

Those who can work, should work. That’s why the next Conservative Government will cut benefits for those who refuse to get back to work and introduce a “Back to Work” card restricting what they can spend benefits on, saving taxpayers £538 million a year.

"Disaster, disaster, disaster" the private words of a Labour MP which perfectly sum up the SFI shambles. Labour must stop failing farmers and get a grip. They should start by axing the Family Farm Tax and Family Business Tax at the Budget.

Labour must not declare window 2 of SFI a victory. It is a shambles. We @Conservatives will continue to hold Labour’s feet to the fire on their shambolic approach to delivering proper outcomes for farming and nature. 📩Please get in touch with your experiences of the Window 2 of SFI and how it affects your business.

Applying for SFI funding is like an online scramble and lottery for concert tickets, and it’s absolutely no way for Govt. to allocate funding. It’s an absolute scandal, and just another reason - amongst many - why farmers are so royally fed up.

Not content with the existential threat to many farms posed by their hated #FamilyFarmTax, Labour increased the anxiety levels of farmers further with their farcical handling of SFI payments. The scheme ran out of money in less than 6 hours and the livelihood of farmers now depends on how quickly they can can fill in a form and press the send button. Farmers in my constituency and across the country are rightly livid. They don't know what they've done to deserve this kind of treatment from Labour.

Shame if you happened to be doing your job as a farmer and were out at market for the entire time the window was open. This is what happened to my constituent who has lost out on valuable funding. Fastest finger on the button is not a grownup way to allocate government money.

This is awful treatment of our farmers by this Labour Govt. SFI funding scheme only open for about 5 hours before it ran out. You can't treat the people who feed us and look after our environment like they are queuing online for Oasis tickets. Another blow to rural mental health

What is wrong with @DefraGovUK? They just don’t get it. Farmers have had an enough… we can’t keep expecting them to scrape by in such a ridiculous way. @NFUtweets @NFUPolitical @_RobbieMoore @VictoriaAtkins

I am furious at the incompetence of this Labour administration. Why on earth did they not see this coming. Or is this what they intended all along? No doubt Labour will spin this as a great victory. But it isn’t. Many farmers will be locked out as they are busy doing other important things - like farming! Through their choices, Labour Ministers have literally designed a scheme around who can hit the ‘apply’ button quickest. I suspect as I type, we are minutes away from 100% of the funds being allocated. This is not how important decisions should be made. Labour clearly don’t give a damn.

Unbelievable. This is no way to run a hugely important scheme. The impact will be felt by tens of thousands of farmers who have missed out. Yet again Labour showing their total lack of understanding and disregard for British farmers.

Tens of thousands of farmers are about to miss out on the second round of the Sustainable Farming Incentive. Those which are successful will get paid much less, to deliver much more. Labour Ministers need to urgently wake up & start working with our farmers, not against them.

Labour recklessly and cruelly imposed the Family Farm Tax and Family Business Tax despite knowing the damage they were inflicting on rural communities. A full U-turn on these vindictive taxes is two years overdue. But if the new PM bottles it in the upcoming Budget, the Conservatives will axe them.

Earlier this week, I brought representatives from nature organisations together with my Shadow Defra team in Westminster to discuss how we can achieve better outcomes for nature. Unsurprisingly, the impact of recent extreme heat was a significant point of discussion. Crucially, it wasn’t just about highlighting imminent threats; it was extremely helpful to hear real-life examples of where nature recovery is working, as well as where regulatory and structural issues in government are hindering progress. I was also delighted to introduce @AphraBrandreth as the @Conservatives’ new Shadow Nature Minister. As she put it: “The issues around nature do not exist in a silo: access to nature, supporting our farmers, food security and resilience to climate change are all connected. Conservatives want to ensure we are developing policies that reflect this through a nationwide approach.” Working directly with sector leaders, learning from successful restoration projects, and identifying where government can improve is vital to delivering real outcomes for nature. These insights from across the sector are crucial as we develop our policy, keeping nature and environmental protection at the very heart of our cause because as my Shadow Minister @DrNeilHudson rightly put it: “The clue is in our name, we want to conserve our countryside and coast.”

This is Labour’s mess. @andyburnham and @JohnHealey_MP must clear up Labour’s mistakes and axe the Family Farm and Family Business Taxes at Budget. telegraph.co.uk/business/202…

🚨Raising the alarm back in July on Labour’s EU negotiations. SPOILER: it’s not good news for British farmers & food producers.

Confirmation of what we’ve know all along. Labour’s Family Farm and Family Business Taxes are pure recklessness. Zero planning, bogus figures, total pain for family businesses. Time for the PM to do the right thing: AXE them now.

Too many people are unaware of the serious repercussions Labour’s EU negotiations will have on our UK food, farming and drink sectors. Labour is conducting these Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) negotiations in secret, without a clear mandate or firm red lines. Even more concerning, they have barely consulted the businesses most affected. Instead, they seem intent on going full steam ahead, handing over control of our regulations and leaving British consumers and businesses dangerously exposed. That’s why the @Conservatives are raising the alarm. We want to promote and protect our farmers, food producers and scientists. It is not about the past or re-litigating the referendum. It is about our future: the cost of food in our baskets and our ability to feed ourselves in an increasingly volatile world. It is about fairness and avoiding unfair competition with heavily-subsidised EU farmers – especially since Labour have cut the farming budget and stripped support from our own farmers. We must recognise our national strengths in agriculture and veterinary standards from Precision Breeding to world-leading animal welfare standards. Listen to some of the concerns the sector have shared with me and my analysis on Labour’s claims here 👇