Prime Minister Andy Burnham has announced £65m in funding to help farmers cope with the devastating drought, declaring that farmers must not shoulder the risks of the climate crisis alone. This move comes after Labour MPs and the party's grassroots raised a stink about Burnham's slow response to the climate crisis, despite wildfires torching Britain and drought wreaking havoc on food producers. Apparently, the PM needed a nudge to notice the planet was on fire.

Some farmers have been forced to harvest early, while others are staring at low-quality produce and dismal yields. The bulk of the cash - £50m - will boost the sustainable farming incentive (SFI), which pays farmers in England to play nice with nature. This brings the total SFI budget to £290m, with extra funds earmarked for areas hit hardest by the drought. Because nothing says 'we care' like throwing money at a problem after it's already become a crisis.

Burnham chaired a Cobra meeting on extreme heat, wildfires, and drought this week, and Downing Street is scrambling to establish a cross-government response. This includes giving farmers more flexibility: those paid to protect nature on their land can now cut or graze it earlier if grass is scarce, without losing their payments. It's a small mercy for farmers watching their fields turn to dust.

An additional £15m will support building on-farm reservoirs for future dry summers. But campaigners are already rolling their eyes, noting this is reallocated money from existing funds and will only cover a 'fraction' of the reservoirs actually needed. Farmers will also get easier access to water through streamlined abstraction arrangements and faster licensing, making it simpler to use water where it's most needed. Hooray for bureaucracy finally catching up with reality.

Burnham, set to visit a farm in the south-west on Saturday, is expected to deliver some classic political platitudes: 'I am meeting with farmers here in the south-west who brought in the earliest harvest of their working lives and watched the yield come in well down on what it should be. Lower income, higher costs and no rain in the forecast. I understand the worry that comes with that.' He'll also declare that growing our own food is 'national security' and that farmers shouldn't carry the climate risk alone. Spoken like a man who's seen the polling numbers.

This is the third drought in five years, and MPs are urging faster reservoir construction, especially since five reservoirs are at 'exceptionally low' levels. Officials have announced support for nine new reservoirs in development. Meanwhile, after visiting a fire scene in Stourbridge, Burnham mused, 'We have to face up to the changing climate... There's no point denying where we are.' We're glad he's finally caught up with the rest of us.

Gavin Lane, president of the Country Land and Business Association, called the move 'welcome and pragmatic but little more than a temporary fix.' He noted that the £15m for reservoirs will fund only a fraction of what's needed, and the costs will still fall on farmers facing record expenses and new tax burdens. In other words, the government is doing the bare minimum and calling it a day. But hey, at least they're acknowledging the problem exists - progress!