Andy Burnham has a lot of work to do in rebuilding trust with farmers

Trust is a priceless commodity in politics and once frittered away it can be hard for a party to bounce back. Labour should know that better than most having spent a decade and a half in the political wilderness before 2024.

The general election that year was an opportunity for a fresh start but Sir Keir Starmer’s government took a hammer to the trust that voters had placed in the party. This was all too apparent with the way that it dealt with farmers.

Large parts of rural Britain had put their trust in Labour but what they got in return was uncertainty at a time when farming’s importance has never been greater than since the Second World War.

Valuable farmland being sacrificed at the altar of net zero, threats to tax farms out of existence and poor handling of subsidy schemes are just some of the major mistakes that Starmer’s Labour made.

The new Prime Minister Andy Burnham acknowledging that the Government has a “long way to go to build back trust” with farmers is a step in the right direction, as is the pledge to guarantee the nation’s own food production.

The series of heatwaves that have pummeled Britain this summer have left many farms teetering on the edge of disaster.

While the Government’s support measures announced at the weekend are to be welcomed. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) rightly points out concerns about the challenges in the here and now.

This summer’s extreme weather could well provide a taste of what neglect of British agriculture means for consumers in this country.

In an increasingly volatile world, Britain cannot continue to be complacent when it comes to food security.

Burnham has struck the right tone, now he must back that up and win the trust of farmers.