What a UK Negotiator Needs From a Minister

The National Farmers’ Union in England (NFU) this week criticised government ministers for “…their lack of engagement with farmers over plans for implementing the CAP.” The union accused secretary of state Owen Patterson and farming minister David Heath of refusing “…to listen to the concerns raised by farmers at shows around the country.” NFU deputy president Meurig Raymond declared: “Our members feel that they have been let down over these negotiations through Defra ministers’ refusal to listen to them.” He predicted that: “Defra minsters’ plans are likely to include the maximum 15% voluntary modulation. This on top of 10% EU-wide modulation, future financial discipline cuts, which in 2013 will be 5% and up to 2% removed from direct payments for a mandatory young farmers scheme, could see English direct payments cut by around 20% under the reformed CAP.” NFU members may not all be strong supporters of the European Union, but they can find common cause and voice their disagreement if CAP funding is under threat.

by Tim Lang, City University London The situation created by the British vote to leave the European Union is momentous for UK food. It is on a par with the Repeal of the Corn Laws of 1846 when Britain decided its Empire could feed it, not its own farmers. And it is as important as the creation of the Agriculture Act of 1947 when after two bruising wars in which the population faced serious risk of starvation, the country decided to put its food house in order – to produce more of what it could and look after the land. Those events set the tone and framework for UK food for decades after. Brexit will do the same. It doesn’t help that the political elites are now knifing each other in a distraction from the genuine, looming effects. My concern is that the security of food might get lost in the debacle. The UK must not let that happen. Food stocks are low in a just-in-time economy, an estimated three to five days’ worth. The […]

Farming policy should be driven by the food and nutritional requirements of the nation. Post-Brexit policy will be developed at a time when there is rising controversy over what constitutes a healthy, well-balanced diet, including the linkages between nutritional, ethical and environmental issues. […]