Poultry Industry Programme takes to Parliament

Poultry Industry Programme takes to Parliament

During the tour the group was met by Tanni Grey Thompson, who has amassed 16 Paralympic medals over her career. Tanni now sits as a Peer in the House of Lords and subsequently entertained the group with a few superlative tales about some of her other Peers and best moments in the House.

After the two hour guided tour, MP George Freeman (Mid Norfolk) had arranged a drop in room for several hours in order for MP’s to drop in and talk to the group. During this time a range of different MP’s covering various constituencies of the programme participants came in to talk to the group.

Both Neil Parish Chair of the EFRA Committee and Nick Smith, Shadow Environment, Food and Rural Affairs graced the farmers with engaging and entertaining speeches about the work they do in Parliament. Fiona Bruce MP for Congleton even took egg farmer, Steven Pace to sit and watch Prime Ministers Questions for a short while, much to the disappointment of others in the group.

However, the remaining participants were able to question MP’s over a number of key areas. These questions included whether or not the Government will put forward more information about how it will support the farming sector outside if we vote to leave the EU and also concerns about the cutting of Defra’s budget at a time when diseases such as Avian Influenza remain a constant threat to the sector.

MPs present

- Neil Parish – EFRA Chairman – Tiverton and Honiton

- Nick Smith – Shadow environment – Blaenau Gwent

- Chris Davies – Efra select Committee – Brecon & Radnorshire

- Jesse Norman- South Hereforshire

- Karen Bradley – Staffs and Moorlands

- Fiona Bruce – Congleton

- Daniel Kawczynski - Shrewsbury

Karen Bradley said from meeting Gregory Marsh.

“Karen said it was a pleasure to meet Gregory. I know how hard Moorlands farmers and everyone in the industry in our area work to make sure we can all benefit from good quality local food.

“The Government has a long term plan to help our food and farming sector grow sustainably, including by reducing red tape and helping improve skills in the sector, so the NFU’s Poultry Industry Programme is welcome.”

The visitors heard from MPs including Neil Parish, Chair of the EFRA Select Committee, and then took part in a discussion on a range of topics from the Defra budget to the EU referendum and Avian Influenza. http://www.karenbradley.co.uk/news/politics-poultry-westminster

At lunch time, the group then descended to the NFU London Office which is located just a stone’s throw from Parliament and next door to Defra. This provided an opportunity for the group to refuel for the afternoon and also listen to a talk from Matt Price who heads up APHAs Field Response Team on how they go about responding to an outbreak of notifiable disease. The group was also able to ask challenging questions over the levels of cleaning required for secondary cleaning and disinfection and the lack of options when it came to disposing of poultry litter and water.

During the afternoon, the group progressed to Aviation House, home of the Food Standards Agency. Presentations were given by their leads on the FSA structure, how it works and why it exists, stakeholder engagement and the work they have been doing on campylobacter. For the broiler producers in the room, it gave an opportunity for them to challenge some of the ideas currently in place and talk about their own on farm testing and biosecurity measures. Furthermore the group raised concerns about the need for the FSA to educate people more on how to properly cook and prepare food due as no matter how much effort is put in by the poultry supply chain, it is impossible to make all food products sterile and risk free.

All in all it was a very successful day which helped put the PIP group put into perspective how government and key governmental departments all fit in to the regulatory system and how this impacts on the poultry industry.