How climate change and red tape could be jeopardising UK access to affordable food
It might be tempting, given how much coverage has focused on it recently, to assume the forthcoming changes to inheritance tax regime are the single biggest issue facing farmers these days.
But the reality is these tax changes come at a moment of extraordinary pressure, with farmers having to contend with a swathe of unsettling issues, many of which could prove existential for their livelihoods.
Put them all together and you realise that for many of those marching in the streets in London, inheritance tax isn’t the only problem – it’s more like the last straw.
Why does this matter for the rest of us? In part because there’s a deeper story here.
For decades, this country’s level of food security has been more or less constant. This country has produced roughly 60 per cent of our own food for two decades (the figure was even higher in the 1980s). But farmers warn that given all the pressures they’re facing, that critical buffer could be about to be removed, with domestic production falling and dependence on imported food rising.
Whether that eventuates remains to be seen. As of 2023 the amount of food supplied domestically was still 62 per cent of everything we consumed. But now let’s consider the challenges facing farmers (even before we get to inheritance tax).
The first of them comes back to Brexit.
Following Britain’s departure from the EU, the government is making dramatic and far reaching changes to the way it supports farmers. For years, those payments, part of the EU-wide Common Agricultural Policy, were based on the amount of land farmed by each recipient.
Alongside these main farm payments there were other bolt-on schemes – Environmental Land Management schemes, to give them their category name – designed to encourage farmers to do more to look after local wildlife. But these schemes were always small in comparison to the main land-based farm payments.
There were problems aplenty with this old scheme. For one thing, all told, it amounted to a subsidy for land ownership rather than food production. Nonetheless, for many farmers it was an essential support, without which they would have had to sell up and stop producing food.
Under Michael Gove, Defra committed to far-reaching changes to these subsidies. Farms across the UK would get the same total amounts, he said, but instead of the majority being based on how much land they were farming, a growing portion would be environmental subsidies.
When Labour came into government it committed to accelerating this process, with the result that by 2027, fully 100 per cent of farm payments will be for environmental schemes.
Whether this is the right or wrong move is a matter of keen debate within the farming community. Many farmers argue that the net impact of environmental schemes is to reduce the amount of land being farmed for food, and that the schemes serve to reduce their crop yields rather than increasing them. Defra, and environmental advocates, argue that unless the soil and local habitats are preserved and improved, Britain faces ever diminishing harvests in future.
Speaking of harvests, that brings us to another issue farmers are having to contend with at the moment – poor crop yields. The past winter was exceptionally wet, with the upshot that the latest figures just released by Defra show 2024 was the second lowest wheat harvest since comparable records began in the early 1980s.
Now, the whole point of farming is that it’s weather dependent – no two years are alike. It’s quite conceivable that 2025’s harvest bounces back from this year’s. But one projection made by climate scientists is that the coming decades could be wetter and more volatile, spelling more trouble for farmers.
On top of this is another challenge: trade competition. Following Brexit, the UK has signed two trade deals with Australia and New Zealand, which raise the quotas of how much food each country can export to the UK. Look at trade data and you see a sharp increase in beef and dairy imports from Australia and New Zealand.
In other words, UK farmers are having to contend with more competition even as they contend with worse weather and drastic changes to their funding model.
Nor is this where the challenges end. Because we might also be in the midst of something else: a secular slowdown in farming productivity.
Look at a very, very long-range historic chart of crop yields in the UK. You see a few interesting features. For most of our history, from the Middle Ages through to today, the amount of wheat we could grow in a given hectare of land was pretty low and pretty constant.
Now look at what happened in the second half of the 20th century. Thanks to a combination of artificial fertilisers, combine harvesters and other technological leaps, yields leapt by 200 per cent.
This extraordinary leap is the story of British farming for the parents and grandparents of those family farms tending the land today: ever increasing yields even as the government provided large subsidies for farmers. It was, in terms of pure yields, the golden age for farms – fuelled in part by chemicals.
But now look at the far right hand side of the chart – the past 20 years or so. The line is no longer rising so fast. Farm productivity – at least based on this measure – has slowed quite markedly. Yields are no longer leaping in the way they once were.
Or, to put it another way, it’s getting tougher to generate a return for each hour of work and each pound of investment.
Farmers have staged protests at government plans
This might all seem miles away from the day-to-day debates on farming today. But each of these factors matters. Together, they help explain why things are getting tougher for farmers.
But there’s a broader issue at hand here. Despite having left the EU and implemented far reaching policies such as these, this country hasn’t really had a proper debate about food.
Do we prefer to subsidise farmers in an effort to maintain our domestic food supplies at 60 per cent of our consumption? Would we rather ditch those subsidies and rely on imports instead? Should we favour the long-term health of the environment over short term food production?
These are chewy questions – and ones we really ought to be debating a little more. This isn’t just about inheritance tax…
A man whose arrest sparked a series of protests outside an Essex hotel housing asylum seekers, has been found guilty of sexual assault.
The Bell Hotel in Epping became the focal point of demonstrations after Hadush Gerberslasie Kebatu was arrested, and later charged, on 13 July with the sexual assault of a 14-year-old girl.
Ethiopian national Kebatu, 41, was alleged to have attempted to kiss the teenager, put his hand on her thigh and brushed her hair in July after she offered him pizza.
An adult member of the public also accused Kebatu of trying to kiss her, putting his hand on her leg and telling her she was pretty, days after he arrived in the UK on a small boat.
Police and protesters outside the Bell Hotel. Pic: PA
Kebatu, who was a “teacher of sports” in his home country, had denied two counts of sexual assault, one count of attempted sexual assault, one count of inciting a girl to engage in sexual activity, and one count of harassment without violence near the Bell Hotel.
But at Chelmsford Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, he was found guilty of all charges. District judge Christopher Williams took just 30 minutes to return the verdicts and his reasoning.
The three-day trial heard Kebatu had also told two teenagers he wanted to “have a baby with each of them” – but Kebatu had previously told the trial he was “not a wild animal”.
Mr Williams said he was not persuaded there was “any evidence to suggest the children fabricated any of the evidence they gave”.
The defendant, wearing a grey tracksuit and sitting with a translator, gave no visible reaction as Mr Williams told him he was guilty.
Kebatu is due to be sentenced at the same court on 23 September.
The judge told the defendant that he should expect an “immediate custodial sentence”.
Essex Police Assistant Chief Constable Stuart Hooper paid tribute to the victims for ensuring the evidence put before the court was strong and true.
“It is because of their accounts of what happened, and the close co-operation with our Crown Prosecution Service colleagues, that we have been able to secure this conviction.
“We’re acutely aware that this incident has attracted widespread public interest.
“We have always said that we treat and investigate every report made to us without fear or favour.”
‘It must never happen again’
Conservative shadow Home Office minister Katie Lam said the guilty verdict showed the risks of allowing asylum seekers “to roam around communities freely”.
“The crimes of this illegal migrant are shocking and heart-breaking and the victims have shown incredible bravery.
“This must never be allowed to happen again. Every illegal migrant should be detained immediately and swiftly deported.”
The incidents sparked protests and counter-protests outside the former Bell Hotel – as well as at hotels housing asylum seekers across the country.
Rebecca Mundy, deputy chief crown prosecutor with CPS East of England, said: “This was an incident which became a cause of deep concern for the local community.
“Our prosecutors worked carefully and impartially to bring this case to justice according to the law.”
A total of 17 people have been injured, with most taken to hospital, after a bus struck pedestrians on a busy London street.
The driver of the Route 24 bus was among those hurt after the bus mounted the pavement on Victoria Street, near Victoria Station.
It took place at around 8.20am on Thursday, according to the Metropolitan Police.
“Two people were treated at the scene, while 15 were taken to and remain in hospital. This includes the driver of the bus. There were no life-threatening injuries reported,” police said in a statement.
A number of emergency vehicles, including police cars, ambulances and a fire engine, were called to the scene, with bus passengers also understood to be among those injured.
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Injured transported to hospital following London bus crash
The road remains closed, with all vehicles being diverted from the area, police said.
Images from the scene show the front of the bus with visible damage and the windscreen smashed.
‘People were screaming’
Emit Suker, 47, told PA news agency: “It (the bus) was coming from Westminster. There were about 15, 16 people inside the bus. People were screaming – it was terrible.”
Another eyewitness said: “I heard a massive crash – came outside and there was a woman on the floor with loads of people around her.
“Lots of people from the gym had run out to help her.”
A trail of diesel running down Allington Street forced police to ban smoking in the area over fears of an incident.
A London Ambulance Service spokesperson confirmed it was called at 8.20am to reports of a road traffic collision.
They added: “We have sent resources to the scene, including ambulance crews, advanced paramedics, a paramedic in a fast response car, a clinical team manager, an incident response officer and a command support vehicle. We’ve also dispatched London’s Air Ambulance.
An eyewitness said they heard ‘a massive crash’
‘Distressing incident’
Rosie Trew, Transport for London’s (TfL) head of bus service delivery, said: “Our thoughts are with the people who have been injured following a bus incident at Victoria Street.
“We are working with the police and the operator, Transport UK, to urgently investigate this incident.
“This must have been a distressing incident for everyone involved and we have support available for anyone affected.”
Dashcam footage appeal
Detective Chief Superintendent Christina Jessah said the crash would have been “very distressing” and, as part of the police investigation, they were asking for people to send in any footage of the incident.
“We are appealing for any witnesses or anyone with information to please contact us. We welcome any dashcam or mobile phone footage.
“We are working closely with our partners to clear the scene, but the road will remain closed for the next few hours, so please seek alternative routes,” she said.
Two pedestrians have been killed in bus crashes in the Victoria area in recent years.
Catherine Finnegan, 56, from County Galway, Ireland, died after she was hit by a double-decker bus at Victoria bus station in January last year.
In August 2021, Melissa Burr, 32, from Rainham, Kent, was killed at the station after bus driver Olusofa Popoola accidentally accelerated into the back of a stationary bus, shunting it into her.
The executive chairman of Tottenham Hotspur, Daniel Levy, has stepped down after nearly 25 years in the role.
A source close to the Lewis family trust which owns the majority stake in Spurs told Sky News that they want “more wins more often” in a “new era” for the club.
Mr Levy, known for his tough negotiating style, was often a source of frustration for fans who blame him for failing to deliver the players capable of winning regular silverware.
But he has also been responsible for transforming the club with a new stadium and a state-of-the-art training ground.
Mr Levy is stepping down after playing an instrumental role in bringing in new head coach Thomas Frank following the departure of Ange Postecoglou – who was sacked despite winning the Europa League with the club last season.
The victory over Manchester United ended Spurs’ 17-year wait for a trophy and will likely be seen as the high point of Mr Levy’s time as executive chairman.
The win put Spurs in the lucrative Champions League for the seventh time under My Levy – however it also came during a season that Tottenham finished 17th in the league on the back of a club-record of 22 defeats.
Mr Levy had previously brought in big name managers such as Jose Mourinho and Antonio Conte in failed attempts to bring long-awaited silverware to the club.
Tottenham Hotspur head coach Ange Postecoglou lifting the Europa League trophy with his players.
Pic: Pa
Before stepping down he was the longest-serving chairman in the Premier League after purchasing a stake in Spurs from Lord Alan Sugar in December 2000.
Mr Levy said this evening: “I am incredibly proud of the work I have done together with the executive team and all our employees. We have built this club into a global heavyweight competing at the highest level.
“More than that, we have built a community. I was lucky enough to work with some of the greatest people in this sport, from the team at Lilywhite House and Hotspur Way to all the players and managers over the years.
“I wish to thank all the fans that have supported me over the years. It hasn’t always been an easy journey but significant progress has been made. I will continue to support this club passionately.”
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Spurs celebrate Europa League win with parade
Tottenham FC said in a statement: “As part of its succession planning, the club has made a number of senior appointments in recent months. Vinai Venkatesham was hired as chief executive officer (CEO), with Thomas Frank as our new men’s head coach and Martin Ho as women’s head coach.
“Peter Charrington joined the board and will step into the newly created role of non-executive chairman.”
It added: “There are no changes to the ownership or shareholder structure of the club.”
Mr Charrington said in a statement: “I am very honoured to become non-executive chairman of this extraordinary club and, on behalf of the board, I would like to thank Daniel and his family for their commitment and loyalty to the club over so many years.”
A source close to the Lewis family trust which owns the majority stake in Tottenham Hotspur told Sky News: “Generations of the Lewis family support this special football club and they want what the fans want – more wins more often. This is why you have seen recent changes, new leadership and a fresh approach. In Vinai, Thomas and Peter Charrington, they believe they are backing the right team to deliver on this. This is a new era.”
Spurs are ranked ninth on the Forbes soccer rich list with an estimated value of $3.3bn (£2.5bn).
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