Tories At War With British Farmers

First published 2021

Boris Johnson, led out a bull in his 2019 election campaign, in a typical political stunt aimed at the farming community. Making all sorts of post Brexit promises, his rhetoric just over a year later has changed beyond all recognition. Buy British, has now turned to buy green. Sadly, for farmers and in particular dairy and livestock farmers this is going to involve a drastic reduction in production.

This ‘green ambition’ to cut carbon emissions by 78% and by 2035, will be catastrophic and undeliverable on so many levels, but it seems British farming will bear the brunt. Let`s not forget the whole of British agriculture contributes only 10% and British livestock 5% to the carbon footprint, so why target sustainable British farming and food to this extent?

To devastate the national herd would also decimate the production of natural fertiliser and this will undoubtedly lead to further huge profits for the major chemical companies. Where is the green sense in that?

The much reported ‘3 teaspoons of dairy per day allowance’ will still require the country to be flooded by cheap imports. Is this government really going to control what we eat? Based on national herd statistics and average household intake our self -sufficiency on what we produce in the UK is strong, and could be stronger. We need to increase sustainable food production, not reduce it. We cannot eat trees and solar panels. The British public continue to engage with Farmers with a renewed vigour for buying British.

Carbon taxes and raising prices on beef, lamb and cheese are a kick in the teeth to our farmers together with the recently threatened ending to the relief on red diesel, and yet, there he is, leading a bull intimating support for our British farmers. Did you vote for this new Green Deal? I don’t think we did. These new plans certainly weren`t in the Tory Manifesto. Farmers are just recovering from the limitations imposed by our membership of the EU. The recovery will not be overnight. Prices at the mart have started to rise, making farming once again a sustainable industry.

Meanwhile the exponential growth in building schemes on greenfield sites, which is laden with VAT and penalties, is a worrying development for rural communities. But of course, brownfield sites do not attract the same revenues for the Exchequer.

The farming community is rightly furious. This Green Deal is a very bad move for the Conservative party and certainly one we did not expect. The farming industry has not, it seems, been consulted resulting in Governance by decree.

The ADF party (Alliance) is extremely disappointed at these reckless and crippling decisions. Government is making policy on the hoof, Kwasi Kwarteng the Business Minister has said “We must go vegan to save the planet”. It is going to be once again the people who will need to bring about change and direction. The public must support British Farming and purchase British produce at the supermarket. The Red Tractor symbol tells you all you need to know.

British Farmers can provide a future sustainable food production for the whole nation by utilising every acre of farmed land. We need to put market protections on British produce together with a sensible cost effective introduction to farming to utilise green energy and green production.

What is crystal clear, is that the Government, and in particular the Prime Minister cannot make sweeping statements on the hoof, which would clearly have a devastating effect on our farming communities. It`s an arrogant stance to expect the farmers to roll over and accept his plan.

Lucinda Bird – Farming Champion ADF Party (Alliance)