Goldsmith farm took £25,000 EU handouts
Pressure is mounting for Defra board millionaire
MILLIONAIRE farmer Ben Goldsmith was facing growing pressure over his role as a Defra board member last night as it emerged he had benefited from tens of thousands of pounds in farming subsidies.
Mr Goldsmith faces controversial allegations – exposed by the Daily Mail at the weekend – that he breached rules by releasing red deer and wild boar on his land in Somerset.
He is already under investigation by police over the claims. However the Mail can also reveal that he is now facing the threat of a second investigation – by the local district council.
Despite the controversy, Westminster’s Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) continued to stand by Mr Goldsmith yesterday and said he would remain in his position.
And last night, Mr Goldsmith – the brother of environment minister Zac – hit out at the allegations – saying they were a ‘storm in a teacup’.
Meanwhile, this newspaper has also discovered that Mr Goldsmith – a non-executive board member of Defra – pocketed £25,000 in EU subsidies for his family farm last year. The payments were under a scheme that ministers have vowed to reform post-Brexit.
Mr Goldsmith is now facing added pressure from the local National Farming Union chairman, who said he should consider his position if he was found to have released wild boar.
Mark Weekes, South West Regional Board chairman, said: ‘If anybody releases wild boar or any wild animals classed as dangerous, it is an irresponsible act.
‘I don’t know whether Ben Goldsmith has done this. But I think he would probably have to look very closely at his position if the police find he has.’
It is understood that police are investigating claims that the financier released red deer and wild boar from his estate in south Somerset, while the local district council is considering a probe into the wild boar allegations. Releasing wild boar could result in a maximum of two years’ jail.
Yesterday Mr Goldsmith said: ‘We’re talking about a few deer here. It’s just a few deer in a large, wooded, remote landscape, and they’re native and they’re beautiful and I think most people will struggle to understand why this is anything more than a storm in a teacup.’ He defended taking the money from the EU, adding: ‘I think that farmers should be rewarded for the public goods that they deliver on their farms.
‘I’m in the most ambitious environmental stewardship schemes that there are and I’m not milking the taxpayer and the land.’
The money is controversial as it is part of the EU Common Agricultural Policy scheme which ministers have vowed to reform.
They have branded it wasteful and bureaucratic and plan to replace it with a system to put environmental protection first. Mr
Goldsmith, 39, was appointed a non-executive board member of Defra in March 2018.
He is an enthusiast for ‘rewilding’ – bringing wild animals back to areas from which they have disappeared, and returning the countryside to its natural state.
When confronted with the allegations over his Somerset farm last week, Mr Goldsmith claimed that he had attempted to round up almost all of the deer following complaints from local farmers and horse breeders and produced photographs.
But he later admitted it was a ‘lie’ and that he was ‘bulls ***** ing’ and apologised. He also admitted feeding wild boar but denies releasing them. Speaking to the Mail yesterday, Mr Goldsmith said: ‘I think most people who have noticed the story about the handful of deer which escaped their enclosure on my farm will be a little bemused by the fuss.
‘Yes I should have contained them more effectively, and for that I’m sorry. I’m sure however that there are some people out there who will be quietly quite pleased to know that these beautiful, native animals are now living free in this wooded and wild part of Somerset.’ According
to Defra’s annual report, Mr Goldsmith – a ‘non-executive director’ – received ‘£25,080 in Stewardship, BPS (Basic Payment Scheme) and Woodland payments for the family farm’.
About £3billion of state subsidy is paid to farmers each year but this will be phased out in England between 2021 and 2027. Some 61 per cent of farm income comes from the subsidy and many recipients get more than £1million.
In his first speech as Environment Secretary in 2017, Michael Gove – who appointed Mr Goldsmith – said the Government would reform the EU’s wasteful farming subsidy scheme.
He said it would be ditched in favour of a system that rewards farmers and landowners for protecting the countryside.
A spokesman for South Somerset District Council said it had ‘not received an official complaint... but will be reviewing information with relevant organisations to determine if any action is necessary’.
A spokesman for Defra said: ‘We’re aware of the claims and there is an ongoing investigation. It wouldn’t be appropriate to comment while the investigation is ongoing.’
‘I’m not milking the taxpayer’ ‘Admitted it was a lie’