Cabinet began with an update from
the Innovation Secretary on the upcoming Seoul AI Safety Summit
which presents an opportunity to cement the legacy of last year's
Bletchley Summit and affirm the UK's global leadership in this
space. The Prime Minister added that it comes soon after
significant investments in the UK by Wayve and CoreWeave, further
demonstrating the UK as the best place in Europe to develop AI
based technology.
The Prime Minister then turned to
the second annual Farm to Fork Summit that he is hosting in
Downing Street today. He said the event will bring together the
best of British Farming and builds upon last year's successful
summit and the commitments set out at the National Farming Union
Conference earlier this year. He said this government will always
back British farmers because they are vital to food security and
growing the economy.
The Environment Secretary said
that food security is a key part of national security and
provided an update on some of the key announcements from today's
event, including the new UK Food Security Index, measures to
embed fairness in the supply chain and a package of measures –
from cutting red tape, boosting trade opportunities and driving
technological change to place us at the cutting edge of the
industry. He said the UK is bringing together R&D,
automation, skills investment, and Brexit freedoms to drive
productivity, increase food production and ensure the UK is more
self-sufficient.
The Energy Secretary updated on
our support to the industry including to ensure the impact of
solar farms on our richest agricultural farmland was
minimised.
The Home Secretary said that the
Government has introduced a gradual glidepath to reduce the
reliance on overseas seasonal agriculture workers, supporting the
sector in the short-term while meeting future needs through
investing in technology and the domestic workforce. This will
support the continued decline in legal migration numbers,
following a drop of 24% earlier this year.
The Prime Minister concluded
Cabinet by thanking each Department for ensuring the package
announced goes further than ever before in backing the backbone
of British farming, and that we will now stick to the plan in
delivering it.
