By John Lamont MP
I recently had the privilege of welcoming my Conservative party and House of Commons colleague, Robbie Moore MP, to the Borders.
Robbie was previously Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as a member of the UK government.
He is now the shadow farming minister in the UK Parliament, which means it is his responsibility to scrutinise and challenge proposals from the Labour government.
He has been kept especially busy recently because, as you will know, Labour have brought in divisive and damaging policies that are having a terrible impact in rural areas like ours.
Since he took office around one year ago, Sir Keir Starmer has broken many promises he made to the public. For example, despite pledging not to raise National Insurance, he did exactly that.
He also betrayed farmers by raising the inheritance tax that they must pay when passing on a farm to their children or grandchildren.
The consequence of this policy is stark. It will force Borders farmers to sell up, stop them from passing on farms to their families, put local jobs at risk, force up prices at shops and supermarkets, hurt our environment, and do great damage to our food security.
Robbie and I heard all about the impact of Labour's cruel Family Farm Tax when we met with local NFUS members alongside Rachael Hamilton MSP during his trip north.
We had the pleasure of visiting Rulesmain Farm near Duns, a well-run family farm which has been very successful for many years.
It is tragic to hear of the difficulties that farms like this could face as a result of the Family Farm Tax. As Robbie has said, it must be abandoned before it does huge amounts of damage to our country.
We also had an insightful and interesting visit to Farne Salmon in Duns, an outstanding local business producing high-quality smoked salmon and employing over 600 people in the Borders.
Unfortunately, they are facing challenges from Labour's National Insurance rise, which is forcing many enterprises to change how they operate. Often, that will mean cutting staff or reducing the hours they work, demonstrating why it has been called a tax on jobs.
Robbie and all my Conservative colleagues are working hard to force Labour to reverse these plans. We will continue to stand up for farmers and small businesses who will suffer from Sir Keir Starmer's short-sighted policies.
