Labour leader is calling on the Prime Minister to back British
farmers to continue to put high quality food on our plates.
Despite a 2019 manifesto commitment, the Tories are refusing to
protect the UK’s high standards in legislation, leaving British
farmers and consumers facing the prospect of food imports that
would be illegal if produced here.
Ahead of a visit on Thursday to NFU President Minette Batters’
farm in Wiltshire, with Shadow Environment Secretary , Starmer said:
“No one wants lower quality food on our plates, but unless the
Prime Minister shows some leadership and backs British farmers
there is a real risk this could happen.”
The Labour leader has today written to , saying:
“I want our country to produce the best food in the world, where
our farmers compete on the basis of quality and are not
undermined by producers working to lower standards elsewhere.
Britain should be a beacon of quality, high standards, ethical
treatment of animals and environmental protections in all aspects
of food production.”
Conservative MPs have until now voted down Labour’s attempts to
use the Agriculture Bill or the Trade Bill to enshrine in law the
UK’s high environmental protection, animal welfare and food
standards. The next opportunity for change will come when the
Agriculture Bill returns to the Commons next week.
Labour also wants the new Trade and Agriculture Commission – set
up in the wake of the NFU’s million-strong petition – to have the
teeth to assess each trade deal against core standards and ensure
proper Parliamentary oversight, as called for in the Government’s
own National Food Strategy.
said:
“Conservative MPs have a choice: they can show they are on the
side of our farmers and quality produce, or they can continue to
play political games.
“No deal with the US or anywhere else is worth trading away our
high values.”
Ends
Notes to editors:
Full text of Keir Starmer's letter to the Prime
Minister:
Dear Prime Minister,
You will know there is widespread concern that we are about to
risk allowing lower-standard food into our shops, restaurants and
takeaways in trade deals.
Ministers have offered many reassurances that the promise in your
manifesto to guarantee standards on environmental protection,
animal welfare and food safety will be honoured. But in the
absence of legal protections against imports that do not meet all
those standards, there is a grave risk that new trade deals will
see the British farmers who abide by them undercut.
We all care about what our children eat, how it is produced, and
that it is healthy. We also want assurance that animals are
well-treated, and our environment is being protected.
Support for putting our high food and farming standards into law
is growing by the day. Over a million people have signed the
NFU’s petition on this matter and the campaign led by Jamie
Oliver, Joe Wicks and others has caught the public imagination in
recent weeks.
I want our country to produce the best food in the world, where
our farmers compete on the basis of quality and are not
undermined by producers working to lower standards elsewhere.
Britain should be a beacon of quality, high standards, ethical
treatment of animals and environmental protections in all aspects
of food production.
The Agriculture Bill offers the next opportunity to ensure that
our high food and farming standards are put into law, so that we
can stop any food produced to lower standards being imported into
Britain as a result of future trade deals.
Without changes to the Bill, our farmers risk being undercut by
food it would be illegal for them to produce in the UK and
consumers risk eating food produced to lower quality standards
without their knowledge.
It is in that spirit that I ask you to work with Labour on
amending the Agriculture Bill in a way that guarantees those high
food and farming standards.
Yours sincerely,
MP
Leader of the Opposition
