Opposition Day: Farming and food security
187Ayes
359Noes
Defeated · majority 172 · Government won104 did not vote
650 Members · Aye 187 · No 359 · DNV 104 · grey dots in centre are abstentions
Analysis
Commons
Commons
On 8 October 2024, the House of Commons voted on a Conservative-led Opposition Day motion on farming and food security. The motion was defeated by 359 votes to 187. Opposition Day motions are symbolic instruments that allow the party out of power to force a debate and a vote on a topic of its choosing; they carry no binding legislative force but put ministers on the parliamentary record. The motion asked the Commons to back stronger government commitments to protect British agriculture and food production. In practical terms, defeating it meant the Labour government was not compelled to adopt the Conservative framing of agricultural policy. At the time of the vote, farmers were expressing concern about potential inheritance tax changes affecting agricultural landholdings and about the future of post-Brexit farm support payments. The vote did not itself change policy, but it signalled Labour's intention to defend its own approach rather than accept the opposition's terms. The vote divided almost entirely along party lines. All 352 Labour and Labour and Co-operative MPs who voted backed the No lobby, while all 102 voting Conservatives and all 65 voting Liberal Democrats joined the Ayes. The Democratic Unionist Party, Plaid Cymru, Reform UK, the Traditional Unionist Voice, and the Ulster Unionist Party also voted Aye. Six independents voted Aye and four voted No. There were no notable cross-party rebellions within the Labour group.
Voting Aye meant
Support the opposition's position on farming and food security, backing stronger government commitments to protect British agriculture and food production
Voting No meant
Reject the Conservative motion, defending the Labour government's existing approach to agricultural policy and food security
Each row is one party. The stacked bar gives the within-party split of Aye / No / Absent; the columns on the right give the raw counts. The whip column shows the published party position — “Free vote” means the whip was formally removed for this division.
Party
Whip
Aye / No / Abs
Aye
No
Abs
Labour Party
Whipped No
0
316
45
Conservative and Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
102
0
14
Liberal Democrats
Whipped Aye
64
0
7
Labour and Co-operative Party
Whipped No
0
36
6
Independent
—
7
4
3
Scottish National Party
—
0
0
9
Reform UK
Whipped Aye
4
0
3
Sinn Féin
—
0
0
7
Democratic Unionist Party
Whipped Aye
5
0
0
Green Party of England and Wales
—
0
0
4
Plaid Cymru
Whipped Aye
4
0
0
Social Democratic and Labour Party
—
0
0
2
Your Party
—
0
1
1
Alliance Party of Northern Ireland
—
0
0
1
Restore Britain
—
0
0
1
Speaker
—
0
0
1
Traditional Unionist Voice
—
1
0
0
Ulster Unionist Party
—
1
0
0
Source · Hansard · UK Parliament Votes API · whip status from announced positions; “free vote” indicates the whip was formally removed
Broadly welcomes the Bill as temporary emergency action but supports amendments 7, 8, 9 and 6 to strengthen environmental liability assessment, parliamentary scrutiny of financial assistance, and explicit consideration of tariffs and carbon border adjustments in valuations.Liberal Democrats · Voted aye · Read full speech (4,303 words) →
Welcomes government investment in steel as essential to national security and defence capability; emphasises need for careful management of tariff regime to avoid harming downstream manufacturers and steel stockholders.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (3,547 words) →
Opposes open-ended powers and unlimited financial exposure; supports amendments capping assistance at £1m per employee over five years, requiring quarterly parliamentary reporting, limiting total assistance to £2.5bn, and establishing a duty to seek private sector purchasers.Conservative · Voted aye · Read full speech (4,684 words) →
Opposes new clause 9 (private purchaser duty) and new clause 11 (level playing field requirement) as risks to downstream steel-dependent industries; seeks exemptions or transitional arrangements for grades not domestically produced.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (1,486 words) →
Supports government intervention but warns that amendments risk procedural barriers and impediments to defence supply-chain security; emphasises need for integrated steelmaking strategy from ore through production.Labour · Voted no · Read full speech (648 words) →
Defends blast furnace capability at Scunthorpe as strategically vital; questions whether NAO auditors should make sovereign capability decisions and warns that constant availability for sale destabilises business and workforce.Reform UK · Voted aye · Read full speech (757 words) →
Sources
Division dataUK Parliament Votes API
DebateHansard · Commons
Stance analysisAI analysis · Claude 4.x
LicenceOpen Parliament Licence v3.0