You Are Not Alone: The Shadow Farming Minister’s Message to Rural Britain
Robbie Moore MP on cash flow, policing reform, the data gap, lifelong learning, and the veterans who can help farmers take back control.
From Close the Farm Gate Podcast — in conversation with Robbie Moore MP, Shadow Farming Minister.
“Everyone thinks that they’re the only ones that are being targeted. The reassuring thing is that they are not alone ” [when seeking a solution]. — Robbie Moore MP, Shadow Farming Minister.
If there is one line from Robbie Moore’s appearance on Close the Farm Gate podcast that farmers should carry with them, it is that one. The Shadow Farming Minister understands rural Britain from the inside. He grew up in a farming family, worked as a farm business consultant before politics, and spent four years on the EFRA Select Committee in the last Parliament. Today he sits on the Home Affairs Select Committee — a position, he points out, that lets him hold the Home Secretary directly to account on rural crime. Across a wide-ranging conversation, Moore set out both the scale of the problem and, more importantly, the practical steps farmers can take to push back.
Why Rural Crime Bites Hardest Right Now
Moore was candid that rural crime cannot be understood in isolation from the wider financial squeeze on farming. He listed the pressures one after another: de-linked payments falling away sharply, the sustainable farming incentive chopped and changed, fertiliser prices climbing, red diesel costs rising significantly this year, and the anxiety stirred up by changes to inheritance tax — the so-called family farm tax. Taken together, he said, conditions have rarely been so difficult.
It is against this backdrop that theft does its real damage. A stolen quad bike or red diesel drained from a tank is never just the value of the item lost. Each incident, Moore explained, strikes at cash flow, drives up insurance costs, consumes time that hard-pressed businesses do not have, and ratchets up anxiety levels. For farms on the urban fringe — which he identified as the most heavily targeted — the exposure is greater and the police response harder to coordinate. The cruel logic is that crime lands heaviest precisely where margins are already thinnest.
Policing Reform: Will the Rural Voice Be Heard?
A significant portion of the conversation turned to the future shape of policing. With the Government signalling a review of England’s 43 forces and the prospect of amalgamation into larger regional units, Moore was careful but clear about his concerns. The exact model remains unknown, and he is waiting, like everyone else, for detail from the Home Secretary. But the direction of travel worries him.
His central fear is straightforward. When a police force grows larger and is dominated by a major urban centre, the rural areas within it risk being overlooked — receiving less focus, or none at all, in the force’s crime strategy. Today’s patchwork of 43 forces at least includes some that are strongly rural in outlook. Lose that, and rural priorities could be swallowed by urban ones. Moore’s message was not outright opposition but a demand for rigorous scrutiny: any reform must be tested against the question of whether it leaves rural communities better or worse protected.
The Serious Crime Inquiry — and a Cross-Government Fix
As a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Moore confirmed the committee has a live inquiry into serious and organised crime, with a detailed report due to the Home Secretary in the autumn. Crucially, that inquiry includes a focus on the impact on the rural economy. He stressed that organised crime reaches deep into rural businesses, and that tackling it cannot sit with the Home Office alone.
Because rural crime falls across the boundaries of police forces, local authorities, and other bodies with statutory powers, Moore argued for a genuinely cross-government approach. He singled out HMRC — sitting under the Treasury — as one example of an organisation with real influence where crime affects business, alongside local authorities. He also noted that high-value farm equipment, once stolen, is often simply unfeasible to replace, with knock-on consequences for insurance costs across the sector.
The Data Gap: Why Every Report Counts
Frank pressed Moore on the reliability of widely quoted crime figures, noting that insurer claims data reflects only what has been paid out, with significant exclusions. Moore agreed wholeheartedly. Such figures, he said, must be taken with a pinch of salt — not because the problem is smaller than reported, but because it is almost certainly larger. A great many incidents are never reported at all, often, he suspects, out of frustration at a perceived lack of action.
He then drew attention to a structural flaw that academics in the field have long lamented: inconsistency in how the 43 forces classify and record crime. When that uneven data is fed up to the Home Office for MPs and stakeholders to scrutinise, it becomes very difficult to get a true feel for the financial severity of rural crime. His proposed remedy is continuity — a more unified approach to collecting and using data, so that resource and funding can be allocated where they are most needed. The practical takeaway for farmers is direct: report every incident, because without that data, the case for investment in rural policing cannot be made.
“If it’s not reported, it’s really difficult to be able to argue that case.” — Robbie Moore MP
Robbie Moore MP on cash flow, policing reform, the data gap, lifelong learning, and the veterans who can help farmers take back control.
From Close the Farm Gate Podcast — in conversation with Robbie Moore MP, Shadow Farming Minister.
“Everyone thinks that they’re the only ones that are being targeted. The reassuring thing is that they are not alone ” [when seeking a solution]. — Robbie Moore MP, Shadow Farming Minister.
If there is one line from Robbie Moore’s appearance on Close the Farm Gate podcast that farmers should carry with them, it is that one. The Shadow Farming Minister understands rural Britain from the inside. He grew up in a farming family, worked as a farm business consultant before politics, and spent four years on the EFRA Select Committee in the last Parliament. Today he sits on the Home Affairs Select Committee — a position, he points out, that lets him hold the Home Secretary directly to account on rural crime. Across a wide-ranging conversation, Moore set out both the scale of the problem and, more importantly, the practical steps farmers can take to push back.
Why Rural Crime Bites Hardest Right Now
Moore was candid that rural crime cannot be understood in isolation from the wider financial squeeze on farming. He listed the pressures one after another: de-linked payments falling away sharply, the sustainable farming incentive chopped and changed, fertiliser prices climbing, red diesel costs rising significantly this year, and the anxiety stirred up by changes to inheritance tax — the so-called family farm tax. Taken together, he said, conditions have rarely been so difficult.
It is against this backdrop that theft does its real damage. A stolen quad bike or red diesel drained from a tank is never just the value of the item lost. Each incident, Moore explained, strikes at cash flow, drives up insurance costs, consumes time that hard-pressed businesses do not have, and ratchets up anxiety levels. For farms on the urban fringe — which he identified as the most heavily targeted — the exposure is greater and the police response harder to coordinate. The cruel logic is that crime lands heaviest precisely where margins are already thinnest.
Policing Reform: Will the Rural Voice Be Heard?
A significant portion of the conversation turned to the future shape of policing. With the Government signalling a review of England’s 43 forces and the prospect of amalgamation into larger regional units, Moore was careful but clear about his concerns. The exact model remains unknown, and he is waiting, like everyone else, for detail from the Home Secretary. But the direction of travel worries him.
His central fear is straightforward. When a police force grows larger and is dominated by a major urban centre, the rural areas within it risk being overlooked — receiving less focus, or none at all, in the force’s crime strategy. Today’s patchwork of 43 forces at least includes some that are strongly rural in outlook. Lose that, and rural priorities could be swallowed by urban ones. Moore’s message was not outright opposition but a demand for rigorous scrutiny: any reform must be tested against the question of whether it leaves rural communities better or worse protected.
The Serious Crime Inquiry — and a Cross-Government Fix
As a member of the Home Affairs Select Committee, Moore confirmed the committee has a live inquiry into serious and organised crime, with a detailed report due to the Home Secretary in the autumn. Crucially, that inquiry includes a focus on the impact on the rural economy. He stressed that organised crime reaches deep into rural businesses, and that tackling it cannot sit with the Home Office alone.
Because rural crime falls across the boundaries of police forces, local authorities, and other bodies with statutory powers, Moore argued for a genuinely cross-government approach. He singled out HMRC — sitting under the Treasury — as one example of an organisation with real influence where crime affects business, alongside local authorities. He also noted that high-value farm equipment, once stolen, is often simply unfeasible to replace, with knock-on consequences for insurance costs across the sector.
The Data Gap: Why Every Report Counts
Frank pressed Moore on the reliability of widely quoted crime figures, noting that insurer claims data reflects only what has been paid out, with significant exclusions. Moore agreed wholeheartedly. Such figures, he said, must be taken with a pinch of salt — not because the problem is smaller than reported, but because it is almost certainly larger. A great many incidents are never reported at all, often, he suspects, out of frustration at a perceived lack of action.
He then drew attention to a structural flaw that academics in the field have long lamented: inconsistency in how the 43 forces classify and record crime. When that uneven data is fed up to the Home Office for MPs and stakeholders to scrutinise, it becomes very difficult to get a true feel for the financial severity of rural crime. His proposed remedy is continuity — a more unified approach to collecting and using data, so that resource and funding can be allocated where they are most needed. The practical takeaway for farmers is direct: report every incident, because without that data, the case for investment in rural policing cannot be made.
“If it’s not reported, it’s really difficult to be able to argue that case.” — Robbie Moore MP
