Politics

New Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed a Defra team which is prioritising the affordability and availability of food over its sustainability and healthiness, according to The Times Whitehall editor Chris Symth.

New Prime Minister Liz Truss has appointed a Defra team which is prioritising the affordability and availability of food over its sustainability and healthiness, according to The Times Whitehall editor Chris Symth.

UK food supply chains have already found they are unable to source imports and are now at breaking point, the NFU has warned.

UK food supply chains have already found they are unable to source imports and are now at ‘breaking point’, the NFU has warned.

Shadow Defra Secretary Jim McMahon did not mention farming or agriculture in his speech to Labour conference, save to say there was ‘work to do’ in this area.

People living in rural areas are under-represented compared to their urban counterparts, according to a leading Labour activist.

Defra has pledged to keep the new Environmental Land Management (ELM) scheme in place, despite a commitment from the new ministerial team to a rapid review of farm support.

The first ever Welsh Agriculture Bill has today gone before the Senedd in what is being described as the most important piece of agricultural legislation to go through the Welsh parliament since it was formed more than 20 years ago.

Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng has today outlined the ‘biggest tax cuts in 50 years’ in response to raging inflation and a cost-of-living crisis.

‘All options’, including an area-based payment, are being considered by the new Defra team to reform agricultural support and help farmers through this inflationary period, Farmers Guardian understands.