The Agriculture Bill should be a golden opportunity to create a fair food system

Rising food poverty and the severe consequences of the climate crisis on our weather, landscapes and crops, means that business as usual for our food industry is not an option. And, the coronavirus crisis has exposed just how fragile our food supply system really is. The Agriculture Bill should be a golden opportunity to make some progress, and create a food supply system that is fair for both shoppers and British farmers. But what is before parliament today is simply not good enough.

Labour has tabled two major amendments to the legislation. The first requires the government to publish a Covid-19 emergency food plan. With millions struggling to make ends meet as a result of this pandemic, we need political urgency to ensure that everyone can afford food. The amendment we’re putting down would compel the government to ensure that everyone has access to the food that they need.

This pandemic takes place alongside the negotiations for what our future relationship with the EU will look like, as well as future trade deals between Britain and other countries. Labour has been working with farmers and environmentalists to ensure that Britain’s high standards of environmental protections and animal welfare in agriculture are not undercut by cheap imports. We cannot allow our farmers to be undercut by food produced to lower standards and then imported into Britain. So our second amendment works to preserve the high food standards upheld by British farmers in any future trade deals.

The Conservative manifesto made commitments in line with the amendments that we have laid out today, so we urge the government to accept them and put them into law. The closure of restaurants and cafes means that farmers and food producers face incredibly difficult times ahead, and government support for dairy farmers in particular has not been forthcoming. With many farms in serious financial difficulty, with razor-thin margins and rural poverty rising, Labour is standing by our rural and farming communities. We call on the Conservatives to do the same by making this bill fit for purpose.