I grew up on my family's dairy farm in Cornwall, and for the past twenty years I have built an egg business alongside farmers who start early, whatever the weather, to put good food on the nation's tables.

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Rebecca Tonks, CEO and Farmer at St. Ewe Free Range Eggs

So when I'm asked what I would do if I were Chancellor, my answer starts with a simple truth: a country that cannot feed itself is not secure, and right now we are making it harder, not easier, for British farmers to do that job.

It's been another brutal year for British farming. Heat and dry weather have cut yields. Fertiliser prices remain really high. Red diesel has crept back above £1.10 a litre. Bird flu remains a constant threat for poultry farmers. Farming produces an enormous amount, yet once the bills are paid, what is left is often painfully thin, if not non-existent. Too many farm families are not planning for growth; they are planning for survival.

Treat food production as national infrastructure: We talk about energy security and defence as matters of national resilience. Food belongs in the same........

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