On Tuesday, 18 February 2025, I appeared on BBC Wales Today to speak about the National Farmers Union’s meeting with the Treasury on the changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR). Read the full interview below.

There’s been no movement from the government, farmers in Wales are disappointed. What’s your reaction to this meeting today?

I think there’s no way to sugarcoat this. The first meeting clearly hasn’t gone well. My background is in the trade union movement, from before I was an MP, and many a time, the first meeting I’ve had, it doesn’t go to plan. And, you know, the two sides lock antlers, and there’s very, very little they can agree on. I think what’s important is everyone is still talking. And when I think back to some of those meetings I had, at the end of a negotiation, after the end of a series of meetings, you can get somewhere that is acceptable to both parties.

So are you hoping that there’s still scope for the government to compromise somewhere or to move on this?

Yes. I am, and obviously I’m speaking with constituents all the time about this. And I’ve been very public in where, I feel that the two mitigations, that I think would make the most difference, lie. One of which being a raising of the threshold, and the other being some kind of mitigation for older farming families, who this change has come to them where it’s sometimes too late in life to plan for.

Thank you. You’ve been quite, as you say, vocal in your criticism of this. I think earlier you spoke in the Commons about how one farmer had said that they wanted an early death because of the changes. How do you feel about these changes and what the government has done here? Because like many unions, they’ve been using words like angry, disappointed. How would you sum up your feelings on it all?

As an MP, I try and keep my feelings out of it and I try and do my best to represent my constituents, and this is clearly of, of massive, massive concern, to my constituents. We talk about being critical, I feel I’ve tried to use the legitimate organs that are open to me as a constituency backbench MP to be that go between, between my constituents and the government, with the view to try to obtain some of those mitigations, as I mentioned earlier.

So do you think that the government has made a mistake here?

Well, I think the one luxury that we have in all of this, and it is the one luxury, it’s time. We’re talking about proposed changes that would not come into effect until 2026. So my hope would be that there is still plenty of time for us to get around the table again and again, have as many negotiations as are necessary between all stakeholders and try to get the policy in a final form that makes it as acceptable as possible to all stakeholders.

Thank you very much. And just a final one. What’s your message to the government?

My message to the government would be the same as what I’ve been very, very, public on already. I’ve not hidden anything. And that would be just to look at the policy again. Look at the policy again. Speak with people in the industry and let’s try and find a way out of the situation we’re in at the moment through talks, through negotiations, through dialogue.