NFU President writes to Times on food standards

Sir,

Alice Thomson once again hits the nail on the head [Tories are squandering our greener future, 14 October]. This is a critical time for British farming and the decisions made now will have implications for the food on our plates for generations to come.

British farmers are proud to produce food to world-leading standards. Over a million people have signed our petition calling for Parliament to have better scrutiny of future trade deals to ensure that our own high standard food is not undercut by imports which would be illegal to produce here.

Sadly, government has so far refused to support calls from an extraordinary alliance of farmers, environmentalists, chefs and animal welfare organisations all urging the government to take action to ensure this doesn’t happen.

However, I’m pleased to say that I met with the Prime Minister yesterday and I hope that he now understands why millions of people want the government to take action.

We’re not looking for special measures. We simply want to be treated fairly and for politicians to be allowed proper scrutiny of trade deals so that Parliament can take back control of our trade policy.

I hope the Prime Minister realises this and puts in place legal safeguards to ensure our ambition for Britain to be a global leader is not undermined.

Minette Batters
NFU President