Labour has a shiny ‘New Deal’ for the UK farmers Britain’s food industry depends on. But is it really worth singing about?
People sometimes forget how vast Britain’s Food and Drink Sector is. According to government statistics, it “employs a total of 4.2m people in the UK, with global exports of food, feed and drink worth a total of £25bn in 2022.” (Source: FT)
And the UK’s farmers underpin it.
In opposition, Labour pledged to back them with a ‘New Deal,’ “cutting red tape at the border and reducing the reliance on imported food,” say the BBC. Here are three of its key commitments:
The new Minister for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, Daniel Zeichner, has said a Labour government would "resolutely back British farmers reducing our reliance on insecure imports, supporting high quality, local produce for consumers, and ending the shameful new reality of those empty supermarket shelves."
As The Independent points out, Labour hopes to negotiate a new agreement with the EU, “on shared standards to relax the red tape – which some food-sector chiefs have been calling for since the Brexit trade and cooperation agreement (TCA) came into force.” Something they believe will boost both UK farming and food exports.
When campaigning, Labour ruled out any wider realignment with the EU – promising to keep Britain out of the Single Market and the Customs Union.
But the new PM did promise a “much better” deal when the TCA is reviewed in 2025.
Hard-pressed farmers, and the wider Food Industry will be hoping he gets it.
A food-first ‘Elms’?
Labour is also committed to making the post-Brexit Environmental Land Management Scheme (Elms) work better.
The BBC again, “Under the system - which is designed to replace European Union subsidies based on the amount of land farmed - landowners and farmers are paid money for sustainable food production and nature-friendly actions like cutting the use pesticides.”
However, critics of Elms have said it’s too focused on environmental policy over food productivity.
Mr Zeichner plans to change that, "making Elms a real long-term plan…that ensures the correct balance between food production and nature recovery."
But “It needs to work fast,” former NFU president, Minette Batters, told The Grocer. “There’s lots to do in terms of changing a trajectory that has been more about the environment and less about food production – it needs to be about both.”
Betting on better vetting
The FT suggests, “A UK deal to harmonise veterinary standards with the EU could boost British agrifood exports to Europe by more than 22 per cent, according to researchers.”
Labour have prioritised it, and are committed, say the paper, to “signing a new veterinary agreement with Brussels as part of its plans to improve post-Brexit trading arrangements with the EU.”
“Such an agreement would reduce, if not eliminate, the need for inspections of live animals and animal products between the countries,” says academic think-tank UK in A Changing Europe.
But their researchers add this caveat: “While it is straightforward to highlight the economic advantages of a veterinary agreement, ensuring its political feasibility is another matter. Trade negotiations, especially those related to Brexit, are complex and fraught with political sensitivities.”
As always, the devil will be in the detail. But – given the scale of the sector – Labour are likely to claim any progress in negotiations as the biggest of wins.