Have I missed the uproar about a new agricultural bill ?

[Bertoldbrecht]

I've not been on the brexit board for a while but wondered if anyone knew about an agricultural bill that could become law by july.
According to the Mail (I know ! ) Liz Truss has clashed with George Eustice who fears she is preparing to ditch animal welfare and environmental standards in order to strike a deal with the white house post the transition period. An attempt to amend the bill was defeated despite 20 odd tory mps supporting it. With all the cummings stuff going on I haven't heard about this. Just wondered whether anyone else knew about it. Obviously the whole issue about the uk being flooded by cheap american imports has been flagged up many times but I wasn't aware that legislation to enable this was going ahead at full speed and why there wasn't more coverage ?

The bill heads to the Lords in June
services.parliament.uk/bills/2019-21/agriculture.html
where it will be ripped to pieces

should be fun

Local farmers are up in arms over it.

I cannot understand why the Conservative government is deliberately infuriating so many of their core voters.

Tanith
Because farmers voted for Brexit.

@Tanith

Local farmers are up in arms over it.

I cannot understand why the Conservative government is deliberately infuriating so many of their core voters.

It's hard to avoid the feeling the "dogs bollocks" answer applies.

I cannot understand why there is so little coverage about it in the mainstream media. The most important piece of farming legislation in decades and hardly anyone beyond the farming community seems aware of it.The fact that only 22 conservative mps voted for the amendment to protect farmers from low standard food imports is even more disgusting.

I cannot understand why there is so little coverage about it in the mainstream media.

Is that the mainstream media that was square behind Brexit ? Or another mainstream media ?

Remember it's all sunny uplands from hereonin. Can't have any naysaying now. Don't want to "talk down Brexit".

Sorry, I read the link, Listening , but can anyone explain it more simply for me?

Farmers weekly has discussed it and a single article in the mail.
I appreciate that the MSM was largely behind Brexit but surely there was that pesky issue of making our elected representatives more accountable (as opposed to legislation proposed by shady Brussels bureaucrats ).

I appreciate that the MSM was largely behind Brexit but surely there was that pesky issue of making our elected representatives more accountable (as opposed to legislation proposed by shady Brussels bureaucrats grin).

Are you posting from 100 years ago ?

Hollys
Those links take a while to get used to
but each dot is a stage in the process
each one has a link to the nodding through or the debate
and when it goes to debate, Hansard becomes your friend

and at the end of the ball game, all legislation is published for all to read
and thus once read, allow folks like me to work away from my house every day of lockdown, knowing I was within my legal rights

I think the farming community largely feel that the Dominic Cummings debacle has very much been well timed to bury bad news.

For what it's worth it's very unfair to say the farming community voted for Brexit. many many didn't, particularly the younger farming generation.

A dark week for British food production.

Well this is depressing.

The fact that only 22 conservative mps voted for the amendment to protect farmers from low standard food imports is even more disgusting

I think they have hugely under estimated the voracity of feeling amongst farmers on this. So many safe Tory seats for so many years have been helped along because farmers felt the tories had their backs over the long term and have voted accordingly. So much of the 'red tape' has been conveniently blamed on Labour and Brussels since the late 90s.

The cons have been in power now for long enough and over promised on Brexit too much to be able to pass the blame on agricultural policy to others any longer and it's going to bite them on the bum.

Sadly I doubt the public really care all that much about food standards, and the tories are relying on people continuing to value cheap food over animal welfare to make Brexit viable.

Scrowy
The NFU was pro brexit
Farmers have historically, habitually and regularly voted Tory
they wanted carve outs on cheap labour
and were rightly shafted

Young Farmers
hmm
I grew up in the 80s

The NFU was pro brexit

It really wasn't.

NFU backs staying in the EU

Brexit has been a face slap for farming

Most of the farmers I know are family owned and run. They might employ contractors to do one off things like sheep shearing or dry stone walling but the contractors certainly aren't cheap.

Don't generalise what you think farmers do and are based on your bias please.

The farmers I know who voted Brexit did so because they were fed up of competing against other countries with lower food standards but getting the same subsidies. They were fed the lie that the EU was responsible for all the ridiculous paperwork and red tape. They wanted out of the EU so they could compete on a level playing field and to stop landowners getting rich on farm subsidies without farming but increasing the price of land for everyone else, Most farmers understood that this would mean the end of farm subsidies and a drop in income and were prepared to take that hit.

I don't agree with them but I understand why they felt like that.

I don't think the prospect of the lowering of food standards for everyone is a time for gloating or schadenfreude tbh. We all suffer.

Well its 4 years too late for that argument.
Farmers just have to lobby their MPs

@DGRossetti sorry but why are you being so snarky ? Appreciate I’m not as well informed as you about all the ins and outs of Brexit but I hadn’t noticed it being discussed on the long running westminstenders thread. I’m well aware how habitually dishonest this government is but they are also bloody incompetent and I’m surprised at the speed they are doing things.

Good post @Scrowy. I agree that it’s not the time for schadenfreude or a blame game Many people will undoubtedly at some point regret their decision as things unravel.

Well its 4 years too late for that argument. Farmers just have to lobby their MPs

They are. Those of us in non Tory seats are having much more success I gather, mostly because the rest of the country are preoccupied with complaining to their Tory MPs about Cummings.

The Cummings story could have come out at any point in the last 6 weeks. It's very unfortunate it did when journalists and parliament would otherwise have been pulling apart the dismantling of food standards and the whole agricultural industry in the country for the sake of a quick buck.

@DGRossetti sorry but why are you being so snarky ?

Because Brexit really really really cut deep through my family ? And because we won't forget for the next two generations ? And part of that is because the agricultural industry was so weakly pro-EU that it became trivial to represent it as pro-Brexit. A stance which at the time must have served to gain 1% of the referendum vote. Which as we know was all it took.

And even if farmers were as pro-EU as they claimed, then they have been right royally stitched up by their "communities", as it seems farmers were islands of Remain in a sea of Leave enthusiasts.

So if the upcoming changes to agriculture are not to farmers advantage, they need to look around their so-called "communities" and remember it was their neighbours and friends that voted for this. For all the supposed enmity between townies and farmers it seems it was townies that had farmers backs, while your own counties didn't.

I heard a mumur about it last week, from a FB post. Not the media. I think the Cummings debacle was well timed to try to slip the bill through.

Bumping this though in the hope it gets more notice!

Bumping this though in the hope it gets more notice!

Won't change it though. Bit like getting everyone on deck of the Titanic to watch it go down now.

It's not possible to express in words how angry I am over all this. Especially since even before the fucking referendum it was clear that even the people voting for (and who now have) their "Brexit" had no idea what exactly it would look like.

Well, now we know. This is what Brexit looks like, and this is what you voted for. 52% of you. Enjoy it, because it's not going to get any better from here.

The bill goes to the Lords week after next
then it will be in the news because the Lords will change it in ways that the commons will have to overturn
and Starmer will be there to highlight what the Tory Government is doing to food supply

Farmers have been anti EU for decades
they just always thought they would get a carve out on cheap labour
serves them right I'm afraid

It'll be buried and sail right through. And people will still keep voting Tory. Wait till no-deal Brexit! Because we don't have anything approaching one, and have been told again, no more extensions.

they just always thought they would get a carve out on cheap labour

ListeningQuietly You are going to have to explain to me exactly what you mean by this because most farms in this country aren't huge agri businesses employing loads of staff they are literally a few members of the same family working together.

Those that do employ staff are unlikely to be the ones that voted to leave as they often employ EU workers for milking cows and picking veg, so leaving the EU would have the opposite effect.

It comes across that you just dislike farmers. I'm not sure what the relevance of growing up in the 80s is?