Luke Pollard interview: UK net-zero target, National Food Service, winning in rural areas and more

Luke Pollard, Labour MP for Plymouth and Shadow Environment Secretary, spoke to editor Sienna Rodgers for LabourList‘s first online ‘in conversation’ event on Tuesday evening.

On representing Plymouth…

“Being a massive gay as I am, I always like taking the insults that people throw at you and making them your own. So I’m very proud to be a big gay Janner.”

On putting together his shadow Defra team…

“There is a lot of focus on who is the shadow cabinet member for a department, but the workload, the policy drive, the engagement is done by the entire team and I’m really pleased that I’ve got Lloyd in the team… Lloyd is a force of nature.”

On the environment during the coronavirus lockdown…

“I think the lockdown has reminded us of what’s important. Not only in terms of recognising the key workers… but I think it has reminded us of our connection to the environment, why we need to build back better, why this is important. It’s also taught us that it can be done.”

On Labour working with activist groups such as Extinction Rebellion…

“We need to listen to those groups about their proposals, and then we need to also apply our own judgement as a party and our own values to that.”

On Labour’s 2030 net-zero decarbonisation target…

“It’s a really difficult question. Because the Tories are going too slow on decarbonisation. They’re not putting the investment into the transformative change that’s required, nor I think do they have the mindset for that systemic change in the way our economy works that we’ll need to create.”

“We need to look again at where we’re going to be because the Tories won’t have reached the place that we would have reached if we were in power. So is it possible to reach those same targets? It’s going to be quite challenging. That’s why we need to be able to look at where we need to be, not tie ourselves down on that target immediately.”

“I’m cautious about tying ourselves down to a set of policies in four years ahead of that general election where we might need a completely different approach by the time that comes.”

On food…

“I’m lactose intolerant. I bloody love milk, but I’m not allowed it. As a result, my diet is quite vegan, quite milk-free for obvious reasons.”

“We’ve accepted that food is a market provision now… People in our politics have become comfortable with the sense that the market provides it and the government’s job is to step out.”

On a National Food Service…

“I think the idea works when you say it fast and do go into what it means. You risk falling into a trap of making nicer food banks… We should be uncomfortable with the idea of emergency food provision being there at all. The policies contained behind the front of house on that one are good and worth looking at.”

On the shortage of pickers in the UK…

“The government scheme to encourage a ‘land army’ I think has been a victory of PR over practice. But we do need to encourage Brits to go into agricultural roles. We need farming to be a career of choice.”

On Labour winning in rural areas…

“We need to be the voice of rural communities. How do we do that? You’ve got to turn up and listen, you’ve got to be present, you’ve got to have a view, you’ve got to be genuine about it.”

On post-Brexit food standards…

“There is real disquiet on Tory benches about chlorinated chicken and hormone-treated beef. They are not the bogeymen of the Brexit debate. They are the reality of what a trade deal with the US will be unless we put our standards into law.”