Burnham 'unlikely to help farming sector' if elected as PM - CAAV
The Central Association of Agricultural Valuers (CAAV) has warned that a change in Labour leadership "is unlikely to help farming and the rural sector".
With Prime Minister and Labour Party leader Keir Starmer announcing last week that he intends to resign, the CAAV expects Labour MP for Makerfield, Andy Burnham to be next in line to take up the role at No. 10 Downing Street.
The group of valuers acknowledged that there has been "much speculation" regarding Burnham's potential policies, with CAAV encouraging farmers and rural communities to take rumours "with a healthy pinch of salt".
A secretary and adviser for the CAAV, Jeremy Moody said: "A lot of things have been said by [Andy Burnham], and a lot of things have been unsaid by him.
"So much of the current talk is just people projecting their hopes and fears onto his uncertain canvas."
The CAAV listed some of Burnham's rumoured policy changes, "including taxing land to fund social care, increasing taxes on the wealthy, and aligning capital gains tax rates with income tax bands".
However, Moody outlined that such ideas "would likely take a long time to implement" and felt that the PM candidate would need to move "very quickly and firmly" in his first few weeks at No. 10 if he wants "to get anything big done".
The CAAV secretary commented: "If he gets into power, he’ll have to pick a chancellor, choose defence and energy policies, and see who he disillusions.
"He then has an election that’s only two or three years away.
"He faces many much larger problems that came nowhere near the Mayor of Manchester’s in-tray; it could easily be that we are looking at a re-run of the past two years."
When it comes to agricultural policies, Moody warned that there has "very little mention of farming" during Burnham's campaign for the Makerfield by election, adding that he is "unlikely to offer anything to help rural communities".
He claimed that the Makerfield MP's focus is more on "capping food prices than supporting food production".
Further agricultural policies
Despite Burnham previously acknowledging that the inheritance tax reform needs a "revisit", Moody outlined that the revocation of these changes will likely "depend on a general election", with the CAAV admitting that the farming sector might just have "to get on with it" for now.
Moving away from Burnham, the CAAV also reminded farmers of the incoming Clean Water Bill, which is expected to be fully announced later this year, warning that further regulation of agricultural pollution could be introduced.
He said: "While there is a focus on water companies at the moment, the knife will spin, so farmers need to get compliant before it does."
