Agriculture & Fishing

Overview

This document is Reform UK’s national statement of principles for agriculture and fisheries. It sets out the party’s diagnosis of problems across British farming and coastal communities, including falling farm profitability, regulatory complexity, perceived threats from imports and land use change, and long-term decline in the British-owned fishing fleet. The foreword cites specific figures for international shares of some stocks, referencing an EU quota for nearly 90% of Celtic Sea cod and 80% of Eastern Channel sole, and asserts a 50%+ reduction in the British-owned fleet since the 1980s. The paper proposes a set of policy directions rather than detailed legislation or programmes. On agriculture it emphasises restoring farm profitability, reducing bureaucracy, treating food security as a strategic priority, protecting productive land, backing British standards in procurement, supporting new entrants, and making public funding multiyear and ring-fenced. On fisheries it proposes renegotiating the EU ‘reset’ deal and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to recover quotas, ending automatic access to the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone, banning foreign supertrawlers, rebuilding a British-owned and -crewed fleet, and reinvesting licence fees in coastal communities. The changes envisaged range from domestic administrative reforms, procurement policies and labelling, to international treaty renegotiation. The document signals further, more detailed policy proposals will follow after engagement with industry stakeholders, but it does not itself provide legislative text, detailed delivery plans or quantified funding commitments.

Key commitments

• Repeal the family farms tax so that farms may be passed to the next generation without the tax identified as punitive. a Reform government would repeal the family farms tax (page 4)
• Simplify regulatory systems, reduce duplication and streamline inspections, and create a consistent framework with ring-fenced multiyear funding cycles to give farm businesses longer‑term certainty. Reform will commit to simplifying regulatory systems, reducing duplication, and streamlining the inspection regime, alongside creating a consistent framework with ring-fenced multiyear funding cycles that allow businesses to plan for the future with confidence. (page 4)
• Embed British standards in public procurement and introduce clearer country‑of‑origin and production‑method labelling, including for non‑stun slaughtered meat, to favour domestic suppliers and inform consumer choice. Policy will embed this into public procurement, ensuring that British farmers are the preferred suppliers across government contracts, and that badly negotiated one-sided trade deals, including with the EU, do not allow lower quality imports to undermine British produce. In addition, clearer country of origin and production method labelling (including for non-stun slaughtered meat) should be introduced (page 4)
• Recognise food security as a UK‑wide strategic priority, with a requirement that agricultural policy maintain self‑sufficiency in key sectors and protect productive agricultural land. Food security will be explicitly recognised as a UK wide strategic priority. Agricultural policy must maintain self-sufficiency in key sectors, and protect productive agricultural land. (page 3)
• Support targeted investment in soil health, water management, infrastructure and technology, with funding made accessible to a wide range of farm businesses so productivity gains are not confined to larger enterprises. Reform will support investment in areas such as soil health, water management, infrastructure, and technology. Funding should be accessible to a wide range of farm businesses, ensuring that productivity gains are delivered across the whole sector, not just larger enterprises. (page 3)
• Renegotiate the EU ‘reset’ deal and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to recover UK quotas, end automatic access to the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone, ban foreign supertrawlers and enforce licensing, including stopping abuse of flags of convenience. we will renegotiate the EU reset deal and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement to recover our quotas for UK fishermen, end automatic access to the UK’s Exclusive Economic Zone for foreign vessels, and ban foreign supertrawlers entirely. Licensing will be properly enforced, including by stopping the abuse of flags of convenience by EU boats. (page 5)
• Reverse the long-term decline in the British‑owned fishing fleet and ensure that British fishing vessels are British‑owned and British‑crewed; and reinvest fees from licences issued to foreign vessels into coastal communities. the British owned fishing fleet 3 has shrunk by more than 50% since the 1980’s, a Reform government will reverse that. ... Our reforms will mean that British fishing vessels are British-owned and British-crewed. We will ensure that fees from licenses for foreign vessels are reinvested in coastal communities. (page 5)

What it would cost

The document contains no quantified costings. It proposes multiple spending and fiscal changes, multiyear ring‑fenced funding cycles, investment in soil health, water management, infrastructure and technology, incentives to return processing to the UK, measures to rebuild a fishing fleet, and reinvestment of licence fees, but does not attach figures, phasing, or budget lines to any of them. The only specific mention of a funding source is that fees from licences for foreign vessels would be reinvested in coastal communities; the scale of those fees or expected receipts is not stated. Repealing the family farms tax is presented as an intention but without an estimate of its impact on public finances. International negotiation costs, enforcement costs for licencing and EEZ protection, and the fiscal implications of procurement and trade policy changes are not costed. In short, the financial scale, affordability and fiscal trade‑offs of the package are left unspecified, leaving unanswered how the proposals would be paid for or how they would interact with existing departmental budgets.

How it would be delivered

The document indicates delivery would be led by a future Reform UK government and by Whitehall, but it names few specific delivery bodies. It identifies the Groceries Code Adjudicator as an enforcement route for fairer supply chains. International actions, renegotiating the EU reset deal and the Trade and Cooperation Agreement, would be pursued through UK treaty negotiations with the EU. Licensing and enforcement of access to the Exclusive Economic Zone are described as measures to be strengthened, but no specific enforcement agencies, maritime authorities or instruments (for example primary legislation or secondary regulations) are named. The paper says it will consult with farmers, fishermen and trade bodies to develop detailed policies and that those proposals will feed into a General Election manifesto, but it gives no timetable beyond that sequence. Where the document specifies reinvesting licence fees, it does not identify which department or agency would collect and allocate those fees. Several delivery mechanisms are mentioned in general terms, procurement rules, labelling changes, tax repeal, multiyear funding cycles, but the administrative responsibility and statutory route for each is not set out.

What isn't specified

The document leaves multiple implementation details unspecified. It contains no cost estimates or budget allocations for the proposed investments, repeal of the family farms tax, or fleet rebuilding, so the fiscal implications are unclear. Timetables for renegotiating international agreements, introducing procurement or labelling changes, or creating ring‑fenced funding cycles are not provided. It does not identify the precise legal mechanisms to ban foreign supertrawlers, to end automatic EEZ access, or to ensure vessels are British‑owned and crewed, nor does it explain how these measures would operate within international law or existing fisheries management frameworks. The paper refers to a UK‑wide framework that must work across devolved administrations, but it does not set out how UK and devolved responsibilities would be reconciled. Details are also missing on the scale and administration of licence fees, how public procurement preferences would comply with trade obligations, and how “key sectors” and “productive agricultural land” would be defined and protected in practice.

Language and firmness

The document predominantly uses firm language for commitments, with frequent uses of “will” and “will commit”, for example “Reform will commit to simplifying regulatory systems...” and “we will renegotiate the EU reset deal...”. Some proposals are framed as policy aims or recommendations using “must” and “should”, for example “Food security will be explicitly recognised...” and “clearer country of origin ... should be introduced”. A small number of proposals use conditional phrasing, for example “a Reform government would repeal the family farms tax”, which frames repeal as a future government action rather than an immediate pledge. Overall the tone mixes definitive promises and stated priorities with consultative language about developing detailed policies.