Farmer
Margate
Joined May 2011
- Tweets1.8K
- Following1.7K
- Followers522
- Likes4.3K
Jonathan Tapp retweeted
A thread on the 50 best fortifications to go and visit in the world according to me. They are all fun for at least one in the family. They are listed in reverse rank order as determined by how much fun, unique and awesome they are.
We said goodbye to Max today, nearly 12. A gentle, loyal companion - much loved, deeply missed. 🐾❤️
3
324
If the NFU agrees, and even Dan Neidle agrees, and DEFRA polling agrees, and food security experts agree — yet government does nothing — then the issue isn’t economics. It’s that no one in power is listening. Or worse, they are — and they don’t care.
7
408
Jonathan Tapp retweeted
Rachel Reeves’s family farm tax ‘will put food security at risk and force farmers to drop nature-friendly practices’ the government’s own survey has found.
Has the penny dropped yet?⬇️ thetimes.com/uk/politics/art…
Jonathan Tapp retweeted
Keir Starmer appears to look on awkwardly as President Trump discusses steps he has taken to help US farmers in response to a question from @beverleyturner about the family farm tax.
Comes as a record number of farms were forced to close this year in wake of the Budget⬇️
Jonathan Tapp retweeted
In the context of everything farmers & society have been told since 2017, this is insane.
Overnight @UKLabour has ejected the foundational principle that we need more nature & climate action across our landscape in favour of culture wars.
🧵 1/
theguardian.com/environment/…
Jonathan Tapp retweeted
A few words on the massive consequences of govt suspending applications to the Sustainable Farming Incentive last night.
A disaster not only for farm businesses & the rural economy, but also food security & our nature & climate targets.
Strongly oppose UK government’s plan to let councils seize farmland at current use value, not its potential development value. It cheats farmers out of fair compensation, tramples land rights, and threatens food security. Stop this land grab now. #ProtectFarmers #FoodSecurity
🚨 ‘Farmers to be forced to sell fields at lower value under Rayner land grab’: Councils will be given greater powers to ‘acquire land’ through compulsory purchase orders and to pay only its current value, rather than what it could be worth if developed➡️telegraph.co.uk/news/2025/03…
The tragedy is not merely that they are wrong, nor even that they know they are wrong, but that they do not care.
A mixture of ideology & face saving.
They know it’s wrong, but they don’t care about rural people or the rural economy. Those involved also have their eyes on the greasy pole in front of them, and have too much invested to admit they were wrong now.
2
154
Exactly. This was a setup from the start. Vance baits, Trump pounces, and Zelensky—fighting for his country’s survival—is cast as the villain. The ‘punchline’ was preordained: humiliation, leverage, and a chilling message to Putin. A disgraceful moment in modern diplomacy.
Vance swaggers like a statesman but spouts reheated internet talking points. Lecturing Zelensky—who’s fighting for his country’s survival—like a wayward intern is grotesque. The arrogance is bad enough; the ignorance is worse.
Imagine lecturing the leader of a country that has defied a full scale invasion using nonsensical half facts you gleaned from Facebook
2
246
That line about “loyalty and gratitude” is quite something. One wonders if it extends to listening to the thousands of farmers warning of the damage their policies will do—or if the only loyalty that matters is to the Treasury’s flawed spreadsheets.
“The department of sewage and angry farmers” @SteveReedMP's own words.
Ignored the pleas of the people who feed us on Tuesday, mocked them at a Westminster press lunch on Wednesday. Contempt for the countryside, plain and simple.
1
5
168
A government that mistakes certainty for competence is a dangerous thing. To dismiss real-world farm accounts as mere ‘projections’ while treating Treasury forecasts as gospel is not just illogical—it’s wilful blindness. When every expert tells you you’re wrong, you might just be
My Q to the SoS was:
"When every farm business owner, farm finance expert, farm tax expert & farmer representative body is able to demonstrate how you have your sums wrong on APR & BPR, why do you think you know better?"
reader.fwi.co.uk/pugpig_enha…
1
145
Steve Reed dismisses farmers’ concerns over inheritance tax, suggesting they are “focusing on the wrong thing.” This, from a man whose political ascent was orchestrated by Morgan McSweeney—now Keir Starmer’s chief of staff—during their tenure at Lambeth Council.
You’re doing it all wrong, this farming lark, you should be making sacks of cash , says the man from Croydon.
1
178
James Sills has laid out a damning case for the Kafkaesque absurdities of the SFI system. Farmers are expected to navigate shifting goalposts, glitches, and contradictory rules—all while government cuts direct support and lectures them on resilience. A masterclass in dysfunction.
It turns out the problem is the wheat calendar starts in October, the Mid Tier calendar starts 1 Jan for rotational options & SFI could start any month. You cannot apply for IPM4 on parcels that are in AB6 because of double funding...
3
123
Ah, the great political conjuring trick—promise fairness with one hand while the other signs it away. Steve Reed’s words will mean nothing when the trade team delivers ‘growth’ by gutting UK standards. And when the betrayal comes? He’ll be wheeled out to defend it.
A tax so flawed that ministers openly advise people to avoid it—a policy that punishes the elderly, the infirm, and those without the means to scheme their way out. And yet the Chancellor is nowhere to be seen. If @SteveReedMP is left defending the indefensible, where’s Rachel?
I don’t envy @SteveReedMP today. He turned up to the @NFUtweets conference and because of collective cabinet responsibility defended an appalling Treasury policy.
Imagine trying to make a positive difference in your role where every conversation is dominated by someone else’s stupid idea.
At least he turned up. Where is the Treasury? The person at the podium should have been @RachelReevesMP