Inside the party conference: Labour

Party conference season is in full swing, and following a packed agenda, the CLA team has now returned from Labour’s event in Liverpool. Following a challenging first year in power and mounting internal pressure on Prime Minister Keir Starmer, expectations were set for a tense few days.

However, we did witness signs of a government beginning to acknowledge previous mistaken policies and striving to present a clearer vision for the UK, while also going on the offensive against Reform.

It was a busy few days for the CLA team. On Monday, Deputy President Gavin Lane met with the new Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds and Farming Minister Dame Angela Eagle, pressing both to announce more details for Countryside Stewardship (CS) and the Sustainable Farming Incentive (SFI) 26.

Just weeks after the reshuffle, both ministers admitted that they were still getting to grips with their briefs and needed time to fully understand the policies before making key announcements. Nonetheless, the engagement was encouraging.

The CLA had a strong presence across multiple panel sessions at the conference. CLA Senior Public Affairs Manager Eleanor Wood spoke at an event on rural crime, organised by the National Rural Crime Network (NRCN), and featured guest speakers including Home Office Minister Lord Hanson.

Lord Hanson was surprisingly candid about how rural crime is often overlooked by the government, although he was more inclined to blame the previous the Conservative administration for cuts to policing. There was a lot of support in the room for CLA calls to enforce rural crime training for 999 operators, and the creation of a rural crime tag which would help collect more data on where crimes are occurring.

CLA Director General Isabella Murfin also spoke at a Rivers Trust panel on ‘Making space for Water.’ With the Water and Flooding Minister Emma Hardy in attendance, Isabella ensured that CLA asks for stability in policy and funding for water were top of the agenda. the minister committed further developments on Natural Flood Management and further detail on the upcoming Water Reform Bill.

Elsewhere, Deputy President Gavin Lane spoke at an event hosted by SERA, Labour’s Environment Campaign, alongside the Natural Trust, Renewables UK and MP for Shrewsbury, Dr Julia Buckley. Gavin set out the CLA’s position that a framework cannot be overly prescriptive, which was echoed by other panellists.

Outside of this, we also hosted a very productive dinner with a group of Labour MPs to discuss how we can work with the party to support members’ interests and stimulate rural growth.

Emma Reynolds took to the stage on Wednesday morning and appealed directly to “Britain’s farmers, and the businesses that make up rural Britain.” However, although there is private acknowledgement from the department of the difficulties facing the rural economy, and hints of updates on SFI and CS, Labour’s public vision for the countryside remains underdeveloped. The fact that the minister focused so much on water reform during her speech indicates that this is still an area that they feel safer on.

Dame Angela Eagle’s appointment as Farming Minister brings someone with limited agricultural experience but strong political acumen. Her arrival comes at a time when clarity on farming schemes is urgently needed, and delays are likely as she settles into the role.

In addition, from observing ministers at the conference, it is clear that there is no public Treasury appetite for reversals on changes to IHT, even if more backbenchers are calling for this. The CLA is continuing to lobby ministers and Labour MPs to find a sufficient compromise position.

Altogether, we are seeing a strange situation where we are almost in a pre-election period already. On several occasions MPs spoke about only having three years left to make a difference – not the confidence in a multiple term government that they would have had when winning the election in July 2024. It is also clear that Labour see Reform UK as its biggest challengers – with Chancellor Rachel Reeves mentioning Nigel Farage’s party nine times during her conference speech.

Perhaps most notably for the CLA was the emergence of the Labour Rural Research Group. This newly formed body hosted rural stakeholders at a reception and engaged with the CLA throughout the conference. Though still in its early stages, it’s encouraging to see backbench Labour MPs willing to advocate for rural businesses in their constituencies.

We will be attending the Conservative conference next, before Parliament returns and the focus shifts fully to the Finance Bill and upcoming Autumn Budget.