Speaking during the Finance Bill debate in the House of Commons on Monday evening, Ms Lockhart supported new clause 1 proposed by Lagan Valley MP Sorcha Eastwood, which would require the Chancellor to publish a Northern Ireland-specific impact assessment on changes to Agricultural Property Relief (APR) and Business Property Relief (BPR).

However, the DUP Agriculture spokesperson said: “That should not need an amendment; an impact assessment should be done as a matter of course.

“But this sudden interest in farming by the Alliance party is not lost on the folks back home.

“Not only are farmers in Northern Ireland battling the Labour Government’s anti-farming policies, but they have an Alliance Farming Minister who is tone deaf to the needs of farmers - a Minister who supports climate change extremism, who is further regulating the industry, and who is blaming farmers for the algae bloom on Lough Neagh, while ignoring the 20 million tonnes of untreated sewage from waste from NI Water.”

The MP continued: “Farmers in Northern Ireland are getting it from all quarters, and I, for one, make no apology for standing up tonight against this tax grab, but also against the ‘home-grown’ policies that are damaging our farms.”



She added: “The Alliance Party is no longer aligning with Sinn Fein on all things cultural. Instead they are adopting a classic tactic of trying to face both ways at the same time.

“It seems like Alliance just can’t let the EU go, but it depends what company they are keeping at the time.

”Last week, the DAERA Minister, dusted off his EU flag and waved it around lefty Oxford, telling us all about how much he misses them and wants more alignment.”

The MP asked: “Does this alignment include the import of beef from South America as proposed and supported by many member states under the Mercosur deal? Beef that contains substances banned in the U.K. and Ireland.

“The same Minister will have watched last weekend as EU farmers protested against the EU in Athlone.  Whose side are you on Minister?

“Do you support the Northern Ireland beef industry, or do you want to cede further ground to the EU in the hope they will become your friend? Which parts of alignment are you cherry picking because you can be sure it comes with a sting in the tail!”