'I'm a farmer - my crop had a bumper year but Rachel Reeves is costing us a fortune'

A UK farm is enjoying a bumper plum crop this year as Brits are urged to buy more of the fruit grown domestically instead of imports. However, he acknowledged hiked costs the farm is facing following Rachel Reeves' decisions. James Miller, Commercial Director at family-owned firm WB Chambers, said that perfect spring weather had contributed towards a great harvest. After being a major crop for British farms back in the 1960s and 1970s, over the decades the prevalence of plum growing in the UK has decreased.

But now, things are looking up for the Maidsone-based farm home to experts in berries, growing, packing and importing. Mr Miller told the Express: "We've had a great spring. We've had a lot of light levels, we didn't have any late frosts. We had cool nights, but warmish days through the spring, and that has really given the plants perfect conditions." He added: "If we could have those conditions for the next 20 years, we would be very happy. But we understand that that's not always the case. It was very different to last year, which was overcast. So it does depend. But plum, it's the hardier crop in the diversification of our crops than, say, raspberries or strawberries, which are very sensitive to the weather."

"More advanced" technology and genetic strains can also work wonders.

Mr Miller said: "Tim Chambers took the decision to invest in plums a couple of years ago, and that's starting to yield excellent quality and excellent varieties, which hopefully starts to rejuvenate the British plum industry.

"Not, I don't think, to the levels seen in the 1970s, but a much longer season with different varieties, more advanced technology, in terms of automatic irrigation systems, and better technology in terms of the farming rather than traditional orchards, and new genetic strains that will produce a better quality product, which hopefully consumers will come back to."

Mr Miller said the aim is to try to get customer demand to increase for the British plum crop, but this is a strategy "for the next 10 years ahead".

The director emphasised that the British public buys "a lot of plums", and imported varieties have taken advantage of this as they acquired consistent eating quality and flavour.

Mr Miller said: "There is quite a market in the UK. It's just the British part of the season in July, August, September, that's been dwindling.

"So, hopefully, we can have a bit of a resurgence with the British plum in that window." "Weatherwise, the sunshine is our best salesman for any fruit, really.

"So, if we have a nice sunny summer, then we should have booming fruit sales as well."

However, Mr Miller also said that his job is being made harder by having to pay up more as a result of Reeves' recent hike to employer National Insurance and the national living wage.

The exact figure is commercially sensitive, he said, but Mr Miller added: "We employ, let's say, close to 2,000 people. So multiply that up by a six-month wage, by the tax, so it's many hundreds of thousands of pounds."

The businessman added that the Government should do more to make it easier to hire seasonal workers from overseas, ironing out inconsistencies in planning regulations across the country and take away some of the "bureaucracy and red tape" to ensure it is smoother to export if the UK market can't take the food that he grows.

Europe has a "more pro-business approach", he added.

A Government spokesperson said: "Our commitment to farmers and growers remains steadfast.

"We have allocated a record £11.8billion to food production over this parliament, and to support fruit and vegetable growers we've extended the Seasonal Worker Visa Scheme for five years and are slashing costs and red tape for producers to export to the EU."