Politics

Defra and the Department for International Trade (DIT) have launched a ‘bounce back’ plan to help farmers hit by the coronavirus boost overseas sales.

While the world is captured by the ravages of Covid 19, the practice of a former political spin doctor to use a ‘crisis to bury bad news’ is as alive as ever.

Defra non-executive director Ben Goldsmith has called for ‘rewilding’ to be renamed ‘wilder farming’ in order to reassure farmers they are central to the movement.

A massive 80 per cent of rural businesses are expecting their profits to fall in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic, according to the latest Rural Sentiment Survey from Knight Frank.

The UK Government has so far shown it does not care about protecting our standards, but Ministers can fix their betrayal of farmers by banning low-standard imports in the Trade Bill, says Deidre Brock, SNP food and rural affairs spokesperson.

Trade Ministers are trying to build bridges with farmers, but without legal guarantees to protect our standards, their efforts will not be enough, says Mark Bridgeman, president of the CLA.

Many fear nature restoration represents a threat to farming communities in the uplands, but nothing could be further from the truth. ‘Wilder farming’ is a better way to describe the changes needed than ‘rewilding’, says Defra non-executive director Ben Goldsmith.

In February, a key Government adviser was telling Ministers UK food production is not critically important. Let’s hope the pandemic has shown our trade negotiators the opposite is true, says Neil Farmer, an arable and sheep farmer from the Herefordshire-Worcestershire border.

The ‘vast majority’ of farms in England will survive the withdrawal of direct payments, Defra’s director general for food and farming, David Kennedy, has said.

Defra has announced plans to reissue six temporary general licences for the control of wild birds following backlash from rural groups over its ‘chaotic’ wildlife system.