Sir Keir Starmer turns down meeting with Yorkshire Dales hill farmers and Lib Dem MP

Concerns have been raised that hill farmers in the Dales and Lakes are particularly likely to have been impacted by the sudden closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) scheme.

Mr Farron told the House of Commons: “The Prime Minister has spoken very movingly and with genuine sincerity and affection about his time as a young man in the Langdale Valley, in the Lake District, in my constituency, and how that shaped him.

“So I wonder if he’s aware that the hill farmers who maintain those stunning landscapes, in the Lakes and elsewhere, will be earning on average significantly less, or barely half, of the national minimum wage due to cuts in their income, despite the fact 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 hillfarmers to produce food and protect our landscape for generations to come?”

However, instead of agreeing, Sir Keir responded: “I’ll happily make sure that he gets a meeting with the relevant minister.”

Former Liberal Democrat leader Mr Farron told The Yorkshire Post that the Prime Minister was “passing the buck”.

He said: “While I always relish the opportunity to speak to the Farming Minister, I must admit I am frustrated that the Prime Minister decided to pass the buck rather than sit down and meet with me and hill farmers.

“This is an issue of critical importance to the future of Britain’s food security and the landscape in places like the Dales.

“Therefore we really need the Prime Minister to be at the table, engaging with farmers, understanding the issues and working with us to find a solution.”

At the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee earlier this week, Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner and his officials were left mute when asked why they hadn’t given the requisite six weeks warning about closing SFI.

Mr Farron had previously made the point that of the 6,100 new SFI entrants this year, only 40 were hill farmers.