Editor’s View: Budget piles the pressure on food inflation
© Phil Weedon The decision this week to place last-minute restrictions on the right of farmers to protest in London on the day of the Budget was regrettable, particularly as the imposition came so late in the day.
Many making long journeys to be in attendance had already set off and it was pleasing to see agriculture so well represented even if tractors weren’t allowed within honking distance of the Palace of Westminster.
One can only speculate at what level the decision was taken and why – whether to save chancellor Rachel Reeves the indignity of having to deliver a Budget to a backdrop of novelty horns or because there was intelligence about plans for bad behaviour.
See also: Defiant farmers flood into London after tractor ban
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Indeed, there was little detail at time of press to add to what the Metropolitan Police described as “several arrests” of farmers in breach of the restrictions.
However these incidents failed to overshadow what was another highly successful event, where the vast majority of folk simply waved placards and roared their approval at the political and farming speechmakers stood – for some reason – in the shadow of a fake missile.
It should also be viewed in the context of the past 12 months when, on many occasions, the Met Police have been very accommodating to farmers and tractors bringing Westminster to a standstill and worked closely with organisers.
As expected, there was no U-turn from Ms Reeves on the proposed changes to inheritance tax (IHT).
But there was one gesture of conciliation about the disastrous impact of IHT, as she allowed the transfer of the 100% relief allowance between spouses, enabling £2m to be rolled over and applied on the second death.
So, as noted last week, interest now shifts in earnest to the last-gasp of hope for IHT amendments – the forthcoming Finance Bill.
In other areas, this is a Budget that will put further pressure on food inflation, intensifying pressure on the entire food supply chain.
Further increases to the minimum wage will hit large horticultural employers and processors, while additional business rates for properties worth more than £500,000 will hit grocers and others.
All of these costs will have to be passed on and it is the long-suffering consumer, also bearing tax hikes, who will end up paying it.
The chancellor acknowledged this as an issue by directly mentioning food inflation in her speech.
She touted policy measures which will apparently weigh against that, including the deal to reach closer alignment with the EU, which I hear the prime minister is desperate to rush through by the middle of next year.
There was also a mention for the Food Inflation Gateway, a new policy tool, recently announced by Defra, that will assess and monitor regulation that could add to food prices.
This will apparently “allow the government to co-ordinate and sequence changes, and give food businesses a single line of sight so they can keep prices as low as possible”.
To me, that sounds like we are relying on grumpy EU bureaucrats and Whitehall committee meetings to tackle an issue of seminal importance to a big chunk of the population.
Good luck, as they say, with that.