The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Efra chair Alistair Carmichael - we should not go 'the full French', but farmers' fight is far from over

Orkney and Shetland MP and chair of the Efra Committee Alistair Carmichael recently presented a Bill urging Parliament to address supply chain unfairness and the imbalance of power dynamics between farmers and supermarkets

clock • 1 min read
The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Efra chair Alistair Carmichael - we should not go 'the full French', but farmers' fight is far from over

On this week's Farmers Guardian Podcast, farmer and Liberal Democrat MP Alistair Carmichael discusses Defra and why, despite current policies, he does not believe Labour Ministers Daniel Zeichner and Steve Reed set out to harm farming.

Instead, he says the problem lies with the Treasury and that while the campaign to reverse or amend the family farm tax may be long, farmers must keep campaigning.

READ NOW: Efra chair presents Food Supply Chain Fairness Bill in Parliament to back British farmers

"When it comes to going the ‘full French' I would say keeping public opinion on our side is very important and I would be really anxious about anything which risked alienating the rest of the public... The Government has pushed us into a corner and we have to keep pushing back.

Defra

"I do not think there is a silver bullet in this. But I think the thing we do have is an advantage in this battle is the length of it. We will not be voting until October/November on this and that is a long time for any Government to double down.

"We have to just keep fighting and keep doing, and keep doing it again after that. If there was a silver bullet here, I would find it and I would fire it."

LISTEN NOW: The Farmers Guardian Podcast: Trump, tariffs and tractors – what do US policy moves mean for UK farming?

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