Article by Andrew Kersley
The House of Commons has tonight voted down a range of
Labour-supported agriculture bill amendments that had sought to
uphold British food and animal welfare standards in future trade
deals.
The amendments put forward by the House of Lords were all opposed
by MPs tonight after a tense debate in which Labour accused the
government of only supporting farmers “when the sun shines”.
The Lords had made changes to the bill including the demand that
the government create rules to ban the import of food with lower
standards than current ones, such as chlorinated chicken or beef
fattened with hormones.
Government ministers dismissed the proposed changes, saying they
would add “unnecessary layers of complication” to any future
trade negotiations and could obstruct our chances of securing
deals after Brexit.
Voicing Labour’s support for the amendments during the debate,
Shadow Environment Secretary said: “Today, members on both sides of the House are
being given a choice about what kind of country we want Britain
to be.
“Do we want to be a nation that shines as a beacon across the
world standing up for our farmers, standing up for the welfare of
our animals and standing up for the environment?
“Or do we want to throw that all away just for the vague promise
of a trade deal, where poor quality food is served to our
children, where standards are undercut and where carbon and
animal welfare responsibilities are exported?”
Pollard criticised the government for choosing to undercut food
safety and animal welfare protections in the UK despite
celebrating the “high standards” of British farming in the 2019
Conservative election manifesto.
The Labour frontbencher and Plymouth MP added: “I saw a lot of
members on the benches opposite for Back British Farming Day in
September. Every day should be Back British Farming Day…
“And on this day, when our farmers need us, we have a chance to
see who are the real friends of farming. Who are there when the
weather is bleak… and who are there only when the sun shines.”
Another of the changes proposed by the Lords instructed the
government to set agriculture-specific climate change targets and
address the fact that the sector produces around 10% of the UK’s
carbon emissions.
Pollard said: “Tonight our farmers will be looking at the votes
cast in this place. They will be looking to see if members of
parliament… support British farmers or whether they choose not
to.”
Reacting to the vote, Labour’s deputy leader Angela Rayner
tweeted that the ruling
Conservatives are “a disgrace, letting our farmers down, letting
consumers down, our high animal welfare standards in the gutter”.
The government initially refused in May to amend the agriculture bill in a way
that would ensure the UK’s existing environmental protections,
food safety regulations and animal welfare laws, leading to the
Lords amendments.
The proposed changes had gained widespread
support not just from opposition parties but also celebrity
chefs such as Jamie Oliver, Yotam Ottolenghi and Prue Leith, plus
the National Farmers’ Union (NFU).
Several senior Tory MPs also announced plans to rebel over
the amendments this week, including Commons environment
committee chair and Northern Ireland committee chair .
Keir Starmer wrote
a letter to last week
demanding that the Prime Minister “back British farmers” by
supporting the party’s proposals to protect the UK from
lower-standard food imports after Brexit.
The Labour leader told the PM: “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 government’s agriculture bill will now be sent back to the
House of Lords as part of a process known as ‘ping pong‘ in
which the two chambers resolve policy disagreements by sending
bills back and forth.
Below are the full results of the amendment
votes.
Lords Amendment 11, which sought to limit the use of pesticides
to protect the public, was voted down by 347 votes to 212.
Lords Amendment 16, which aimed to maintain British food
standards in trade deals, was voted down by 332 votes to 279.
Lords Amendment 17, which sought to improve environmental
protections, was voted down by 344 votes to 206.
