Tim Farron urges Prime Minister to back Cumbrian hill farmers

During Prime Minister’s Questions this afternoon, Westmorland and Lonsdale MP Tim Farron challenged Keir Starmer to meet with struggling hill farmers in Cumbria.

Shocking new modelling carried out by the University of Cumbria’s Professor Julia Aglionby shows that many upland farmers in England are now living on less than the National Minimum Wage.

According to the research, by 2027/28 the average income for an upland farmer is expected to be only 55% of the National Minimum Wage.

The Liberal Democrats are calling for the Government to give specific financial support to upland farmers to ensure that they are earning at least the minimum wage.

Speaking during Prime Minister’s Questions in Parliament, Tim said: “The Prime Minister has spoken very movingly and with genuine sincerity and affection about how his time as a young man in the Langdale valley in the Lake District in my constituency and how that helped to shape him.

“So I wonder if he is aware that the hill farmers who maintain those stunning landscapes in the Lakes and elsewhere will be earning on average barely half the minimum wage due to cuts in their income, despite the fact that they provide the backdrop to the remarkably important tourism economy.

“So would he agree to meet with me and upland farmers in the Lakes and the Dales so that we can design a scheme together to end this poverty and equip our hill farmers to produce food and protect our epic landscapes for generations to come?”

In response, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said: “He and I share a love of the Lake District and we still go back there with our children now.

“This is a serious issue obviously which is why we put a record amount into farming at the budget and also set out our roadmap.

“But I’ll happily make sure that he gets a meeting with the relevant minister to go through that and to take on board any points he has to make in relation to it.”