Politics

The Government’s chief food adviser has called the current debate on meat eating an unpleasant dialogue of the deaf.

Defra Secretary Theresa Villiers has admitted ‘engaging’ with Number 10 on the last-minute decision to stop the Derbyshire badger cull.

The new Agriculture Bill due to be introduced to Parliament this month will include a legal requirement for the Government to carry out regular food security audits.

Farmers without formal qualifications could be excluded from accessing Government funding or even tenancies over the next two or three years, a prominent peer has warned.

The NFU has called for farmers in England to keep at least 30 per cent of their direct payments after Brexit.

The NFU has called for the new Agriculture Bill, which will be reintroduced to Parliament this month, to set up a commission to protect food standards in trade deals.

The Welsh Conservatives have set out plans to split the Environment and Rural Affairs Department if they win power at the next Assembly election in May 2021.

Number 10 has already removed environmental commitments from the EU Withdrawal Agreement, which does not bode well for the protection of food standards over the coming years, says Kerry McCarthy, Labour MP for Bristol East.

The Agriculture Bill needs major reform if farming is to thrive in Brexit Britain, says Leicestershire arable and beef farmer Joe Stanley in an open letter to Prime Minister Boris Johnson.

Farming in Scotland needs to change if we are to come close to meeting our climate targets, but the Scottish Government’s Agriculture Bill sets out no plans for reform, says John Finnie, Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands.