Draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reduction) (England) Regulations 2025

Parliament voted on 31 March 2025 to approve the Draft Agriculture (Delinked Payments) (Reduction) (England) Regulations 2025, passing them by 296 ayes to 164 noes in Division 165. The regulations reduce the level of delinked payments made to farmers in England, the subsidy mechanism that replaced EU-era direct payments following Brexit, as the government continues its phased transition away from legacy income support toward new environmental land management schemes. The vote matters because delinked payments represent the last remnant of the old area-based subsidy system that paid farmers simply for occupying agricultural land. Reducing them on this timetable pushes farmers more quickly toward the government's preferred model, under which public money is tied to environmental outcomes. Those who opposed the regulations argued that cutting payments at this pace places unacceptable financial pressure on farm businesses already facing high input costs and economic uncertainty. The division split entirely along party lines. All 262 Labour MPs and 32 Labour and Co-operative MPs with a recorded vote backed the regulations, while Conservatives, Liberal Democrats, Reform UK, the Green Party, and Northern Irish unionist parties all voted against. There were no cross-party rebellions in either direction. The result continues a pattern of tight government-versus-opposition divisions on agricultural policy since the 2024 election, with Labour deploying its large Commons majority to advance subsidy reform over opposition objections.