Farming is one of Britain’s oldest industries and an integral part of our diverse economy, food security and improved nutrition.

Yet, Labour’s recent budget has overlooked its importance and created new challenges for those who sustain our agricultural legacy.

The Chancellor’s decision to overhaul inheritance tax on family farms creates hurdles for generational farming, an industry already operating on tight budgets.

While they may have assets, farmers often allocate themselves modest, small salaries to sustain their operations, which provide a vital service to the local community; under new rules, when parents pass their land to the next generation, inheritance tax will burden them with an enormous bill.

This is wrong, and Labour’s inherent misunderstanding of the challenges rural businesses and communities face is punishing local people here in my constituency.

The President of the National Farmers Union (NFU) has confirmed that this will not only hurt farmers, but “makes producing food more expensive” which inevitably means that the cost “will have to be passed up the supply chain or risk the resilience of our food production”.

Labour have not only broken their promises to working people but are actively harming the industries that the Conservatives worked so hard to protect.

At the heart of this issue are local families, often upstanding members of our community, not only acting as custodians of our beautiful countryside but often supporting local events, as well as providing some delicious produce.

Our food security directly affects our national security, and farming families all over Britain may now find themselves selling their land due to these new taxes, placing our agricultural land and industries at the mercy of foreign investors and Government officials.

But while Labour is turning their backs on our farmers, my colleagues and I in opposition, give them our full support.

Since being elected I’ve been getting a real sense of what is happening locally; in August I visited the family-run Mathias Nurseries in Tilford to discuss their concerns on this new tax, the use of peat and our biosecurity in Europe – I have already raised the latter of these points directly with Ministers on the family’s behalf. 

As reported in this newspaper, I later visited Pierrepont Farm to meet the small businesses there and importantly the new tenant farmer. 

And I’m looking forward to meeting with farms elsewhere in my constituency, including Meadow Cottage Farm in Headley next week.

While I continue working with these local businesses, I’d like to encourage readers to visit their nearest farm shop and discover the quality produce on offer, especially as we approach the festive season.

To me, as to many of you, it’s clear we must stand by our farmers. Sadly, it seems Keir Starmer has yet to understand this.