For the last six weeks, conversations within our industry have been heavily based around the future of policy in food and agriculture.
With a new Labour government confirmed by Friday morning, the question now is what exactly they will do for farmers, landowners and importantly the general public who rely on the production of food.
Whilst the Conservative Government successfully ran a Food to Fork Summit at Number 10, Labour did not commit to this in their manifesto. The Food to Fork Summit demonstrated to UK Agriculture that the Government were listening and provided discussion for trade bodies and over 70 businesses to meet with key political figures, including the Prime Minister. It will certainly be interesting now to see whether Labour bring something similar in to bridge the gap between politicians and farmers.
There was no mention of an agricultural budget in the labour manifesto whilst the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats promised an extra £1 billion and Reform pledging to increase the Farm Budget to £3 billion. We are almost at the end of the Transition Period where we see subsidy payments phased out and replaced with environmental schemes paying farmers to implement practices that positively impact the countryside. Labour has committed to not changing the schemes that have already been implemented, a welcomed response to a policy that has many up and downs over the last few years with new ‘Standards’ (actions) being added.
Labour recognises food security as a national security and will champion British farming whilst protecting the environment. This is crucial with a move away from the European Union causing a ripple effect to our empty supermarket shelves. It is also important that the new Labour government look at supply-chain fairness and evaluate existing relationships between supermarkets and farmers.
Many key rural and agricultural MPs, including Minister for Food and Farming Sir Mark Spencer MP and Therese Coffee, previous Secretary of State lost their seats in the Election. A handful of other key figures also lost their seats whilst newly elected Secretary of State, Steve Reed MP and Minister of Food and Farming, Daniel Zeichner MP both won their seats and then were selected into post.
Since his appointment as Shadow Minister last year, Steve Reed and Daniel Zeichner have both been active and present in key agricultural discussions, including appearing on NFU panels. To some degree, with this in mind it would be expected that farming would have been more prominent in the manifesto.
In an online video message, Steve Reed said it will take “years to reverse the damage that ahs been done” and laid out his 5 key priorities:
Cleaning up Britain’s waters.
Supporting farmers to boost Briain’s food security.
Creating a road map to move Britain to a zero waste economy.
Ensuring nature’s recovery.
Protecting communities from the dangers of flooding.
Whilst broader policy changes, such as housing developments, will be impacting farmers and landowners, agricultural policy is crucial in supporting our industry and providing food security as a national security.
