Politics

Farming Minister Victoria Prentis has rejected the NFU’s call for a Trade Commission to explore ways to protect food production standards in UK trade policy.

An agricultural think tank has warned commercial farming is being ‘written out’ of emerging post-Brexit policy, despite the fact that fewer than 10 per cent of farm businesses produce over half the UK’s agricultural output.

EU farm and food chain groups have called for temporary arrangements to be put in place to protect trade with the UK in the event that a free trade deal cannot be agreed by the end of the year.

A Parliamentary group has called on the Government to develop a ‘UK Strategy for Abattoirs’ in order to stem the tide of small slaughterhouse closures.

The Prime Minister has backed a plan from Defra Secretary George Eustice to slap high tariffs on imports of sub-standard food.

Breaking away from restrictive EU rules on gene editing should be a no-brainer for Government, and we have provided a means to do this through the Agriculture Bill, says Julian Sturdy MP, chair of the Science and Technology in Agriculture APPG.

A battle is currently taking place over whether the UK’s iconic regional foods will be protected in the EU after Brexit, and this is one fight we must win, says Jackie Evans, managing director of agriculture and land management at ADAS.

The House of Lords has an opportunity to ensure our production standards are protected in the Agriculture Bill, and it must, because we cannot afford to get this piece of legislation wrong, says Martin Lines, chairman of the Nature Friendly Farming Network.

The Agriculture Bill provided an opportunity to make empty shelves and empty stomachs a thing of the past, but it is an opportunity missed, says Luke Pollard, Labour’s Shadow Defra Secretary.

Rural organisations have joined forces to demand Environment Secretary George Eustice bring the ‘chaotic’ wildlife licensing system, run by Natural England (NE), back into central Government to be reformed.