With all the hullabaloo surrounding the clamour to replace Sir Kier Starmer as Leader of the Labour Party and as tenant of 10 Downing Street, the Government’s legislative programme set out by his Majesty the King in the State Opening of Parliament has barely registered in the press and media. Thirty-five full Bills and two draft Bills have been announced covering a wide spectrum of issues from financial services, to highways, education, electoral reform and taxis. Although, on the face of it, there are no Bills specifically covering agriculture, there are three bills which the Tenant Farmers Association will be watching closely and seeking to influence.
The European Partnership Bill has been trailed by the Government as fulfilling a manifesto commitment to improve the UK’s trade and investment relationship with the EU in a number of areas, including food and drink. In preparation for this legislation there has already been engagement with DEFRA and the Department for Business and Trade and it has become clear that the UK Government is much keener on this than the Member States of the European Union. Whilst there are benefits to gain from having good trading links with the EU, there are also huge dangers. Inevitably, the EU will require the UK to comply with a raft of regulations which we will have no involvement in setting or amending. They will be presented on a take it or leave it basis. Indeed, the stock of EU regulations covering food and drink from farm to fork has increased massively since we left the European Union so there will be considerable catch up needed. We need to make sure that we do not sign up to provisions which will disadvantage our farmers and growers or those that will diminish our ability to use our post-Brexit freedom to trade with the rest of the world.
The Government’s commitment to renewable energy will be bolstered through the Energy Independence Bill. There is no doubt that the recent events within the Middle East will have hardened the Government’s resolve to move further and faster to achieve energy independence for the UK through renewables. The drubbing experienced by the Government in the local and Devolved Administration elections will also have provided a convenient hook to demonstrate the Government’s commitment to bringing down the price of energy to ease cost of living pressures. The problem is the almost universal agreement amongst energy analysts that the Government’s policies are adding to costs and there is real danger in pressing ahead with new legislation that the situation will be made worse rather than better. Large scale renewable energy projects, particularly solar, are already hugely divisive and have hidden issues for the tenanted sector of agriculture with land earmarked for solar being ripped out of farm tenancies for little compensation in comparison to the real loss being experienced by those farming businesses. This is despite the Prime Minister giving a pre-General Election promised to tenant farmers that this would not happen. Clearly it is easy to promise in Opposition what you don’t deliver in Government. The TFA will be seeking to progress its long-standing position of demanding fairer compensation for tenant farmers who are affected by this.
The third Bill that we will need to watch is the Clean Water Bill which, as well as looking at water regulation in the round will also seek to look at the regulations surrounding the use and management of nutrients used within farm settings. It will be vital to ensure any new provisions follow sound science and properly accounts for levels of risk. In addition, the TFA will want to protect tenant farmers from being penalised where there fixed equipment for managing nutrients is the responsibility of landlords reluctant to spend money to upgrade or replace ageing facilities.
Of course, if the political leadership at Westminster changes, these priorities may change too. There is nothing as constant as change!
-Ends-
This blog was written by George Dunn, Chief Executive, Tenant Farmers Association. It is based on a piece, written for The Cumberland News and Westmorland Gazette, published online and in paper on 29 May 2026.
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