Commenting on today’s farmers’ protest at Westminster, Greenpeace UK’s Head of Politics, Ami McCarthy, said:

“Farmers have a vital job to do in growing good-quality food and looking after the countryside, but that job is getting harder. Extreme weather, competition from industrial farms and supermarkets denying them a fair price for their food – all this is putting farmers’ livelihoods under huge strain. They have reasons to be angry.

“So whilst it is right that the richest landowners pay their fair share of tax, the government must look again at their wider offer to support UK farmers. Ministers should double the budget for nature-friendly farming and land management to at least £6bn a year, with no delay to the roll-out of new farm payment systems delivering on the principle of public money for public goods.

“Money for investment in public services, nature protection and action on climate change is urgently needed. Supermarkets and industrial farming corporations have been making huge profits, while driving down standards, damaging the environment and impacting our health. The government could usefully look at the profits from these sectors as it seeks further ways of raising much-needed revenue.”