Farmers brace for new fight with Reeves to stop cuts that threaten rivers

The Conservative Environment Network (CEN) meanwhile warned that there is a “real risk” that farmers bear the brunt of the “economic mess”. The Chancellor has refused to rule out fresh spending cuts if necessary to meet her fiscal rule on balancing the public finances, as rising costs of government borrowing on financial markets threaten to swallow up the spare cash she kept aside in November.

The CEN warned that ministers appear “primed” to cut the £2.4bn nature-friendly farming budget, which includes measures designed to protect against river pollution and floods, to meet spending pressures from 2026 onwards, which were already tight and may now constrict further.

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