Defra cuts: Government treating rural communities with “gobsmacking contempt”

EMBARGO: Immediate Release

Responding to reporting in the Guardian that the nature-friendly farming budget is set to be slashed in the UK spending review, Liberal Democrat Environment spokesperson Tim Farron MP said:

“The Government is treating rural communities with gobsmacking contempt. If this comes to pass ministers would be putting yet another nail in the coffin of farming in this country.

“Many farmers are barely making ends meet, working for half the minimum wage, yet they still tirelessly maintain our countryside and it is their stewardship that allows us all to enjoy its beauty. With these cuts, those same farmers will simply not be able to protect nature in this way anymore.

“The Government’s utter failure to understand rural communities risks decimating them. At the spending review we cannot see farmers come under siege once more and these cuts cannot come to pass.”

ENDS

Notes to Editors:

Reporting can be found here: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/may/28/nature-friendly-farming-fund-to-be-slashed-uk-spending-review-defra