Politics

Leaving the EU and its stringent ‘farming by calendar’ rules gives the UK an opportunity to improve farm safety, says County Armagh beef farmer John Henning.

The UK faces a dizzying cocktail of two crises and a challenge hitting simultaneously. Just one of these would be a real test for any Government or nation, but the dark brew of all three will be bitter, says Labour Shadow Defra Secretary Luke Pollard.

Dominic Cummings is the only man who believes a no-deal Brexit in the middle of a pandemic is a good idea, says Hywel Davies, who is a partner at Cyfreithwyr Llys Cennen Solicitors and helps his parents run the Aman flock of pedigree Texel sheep, the 2018 Champion Flock of Wales.

All four nations need to work together as partners to ensure the UK internal market continues to function, and devolution is respected, says Ben Lake, MP for Ceredigion and Plaid Cymru’s agriculture spokesman in Westminster.

The union is the cornerstone of the UK’s prosperity and influence, and keeping it together will be vital for the future prosperity of our farmers, says Robert Largan, MP for High Peak.

An attempt in the House of Lords to ban live exports as part of the Agriculture Bill has been stymied by complications over Northern Ireland.

The UK has an opportunity to lead on preventing the spread of zoonotic diseases such as the coronavirus, the Co-op’s head of agriculture Caroline Mason has said.

The eagerly anticipated National Food Strategy (NFS) for England has set out a number of formal recommendations for protecting food production standards in trade deals.

Leaving the Brexit transition period without an EU trade deal would be ‘a cakewalk’ for the food industry in comparison to the pandemic, National Food Strategy (NFS) chief Henry Dimbleby has said.

Farm groups have welcomed Government plans to scrap EU greening requirements for direct payments from 2021.