Campaign group Greenpeace has released a ‘rich-list’ of subsidy recipients being awarded payments under the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP). According to the environment group, people ranked on the Sunday Times’ Rich List received millions in area-based payments last year, and overseas players not featured on the domestic list gained millions more.

Greenpeace has been at the forefront of efforts to drive a change of direction in farm subsidy payments in the UK, as the country negotiates its exit from Europe, and a new domestic agricultural policy is drawn up. Alongside Greenpeace, the National Trust (which receives £2m a year in farm subsidies), CPRE and most recently the British Veterinary Association have said that any public farm spending in an independent Britain must be focused on delivering public and environmental goods.

Unveiling the results of its investigation, Greenpeace slammed the subsidy regime as “a broken system which sends public subsidies into billionaires’ bank accounts.” The green group said that, whilst some recipients are undoubtedly using their payments in ways that benefit the environment, others are not and the current system doesn’t differentiate between the two.   

Last month, Chancellor Phillip Hammond promised to maintain spending at current levels up until 2020, though Defra has since confirmed to Farming Online that the December 2019-June 2020 payment window will be the last to be covered by the Chancellor’s promise. Campaign groups are pushing for fundamental reforms when the guarantee comes to an end. Many have been hugely critical of the area-based payment system.

Researchers for Greenpeace looked into the top 100 recipients of CAP funds, and found that their number includes members of the royal family and a number of wealthy aristocrats (who account for at least one in five of the top 100 CAP beneficiaries), Conservative politicians and prominent party donors, billionaire vacuum cleaner magnate James Dyson, the Swedish owner of clothes store H&M and a billionaire Saudi prince who breeds racehorses and has reportedly described his farming operation receiving the subsidies as “a hobby”.

A total of £3m was paid out to four recipients based in the ‘secrecy jurisdictions’ of Jersey and Guernsey, which Greenpeace described as tax havens, though there is no suggestion that the owners of these companies have sought to avoid tax.

Together, the top 100 CAP recipients were paid out almost £88 million in 2015, meaning their payments were worth more than those paid to the bottom 55,000 recipients combined.

Commenting on Thursday, Greenpeace’s Brexit spokesperson Hannah Martin said, “It is untenable for the Government to justify keeping a farming policy which allows a billionaire to breed race horses on land subsidised by taxpayers. It’s clear that there cannot be a business-as-usual approach to farm subsidies after we leave the EU. Some of the recipients of these subsidies are doing great work which benefits our environment - but others are not - and it makes no sense that the CAP’s largest subsidy payments don’t distinguish between the two. That can’t be right. All landowners should be encouraged to help with things like conservation, sustainable food production, building thriving rural economies, maintaining healthy soils and reducing flood-risk.”

Hannah continued, “The British Government has never had a better opportunity to reshape our farming sector for the common good. We should be using any subsidies to improve the lot of farmers who really need our support and champion landowners who promote wildlife and biodiversity, use their land to help reduce flooding in their area and provide carbon storage to tackle climate change.”

A spokesperson for the RSPB, itself a major recipient, gaining over £2m annually in direct payments, told Greenpeace, “As a major landowner and farmer, we use the CAP funding we receive to deliver specific public benefits, such as managing vital habitats and providing a home for nature. The majority of the CAP though is still dominated by untargeted subsidies that provide little in return. As we move toward the EU exit door, we need to take the opportunity to create a policy that encourages other farmers and land managers across the country to do much more for the environment”  

Farming minister George Eustice and Defra’s spokesperson in the House of Lords, Lord Gardiner of Kimble both receive subsidies under the scheme, but neither are in the top 100 recipients and an environment department spokesperson said both had declared their conflicts of interest and been cleared to participate in debates on the future of farm payments.

The spokesperson added, “The Secretary of State has underlined the need for continuity for farmers and together with her ministerial team is looking forward to working with industry, rural communities and the wider public to shape our plans for food, farming and the environment outside the EU.”

The Conservative Party has been contacted for comment.