Within two weeks of the prime minister’s announcement the NFU had produced a 2017 Manifesto. Its five key themes cover all that’s needed for the future of farming; investing for growth, placing science at the heart of policy-making, safeguarding short, fair, secure supply chains, caring for our countryside and rural communities and making Brexit a success for British farming. I would like to offer my thanks to everyone involved in writing our election manifesto with such a tight time schedule. The NFU is the only farming organisation with the resource to prepare and write such a visionary document and organise meetings across England and Wales in the limited time available.
This manifesto has been shared with all members on NFUonline and direct to inboxes via the weekly email bulletin. Within 24 hours of its publication, our press office ensured that all national media had a copy of the manifesto and in the following days it was covered in newspapers such as The Times.
All areas of the NFU have coordinated to ensure this reaches all prospective parliamentary candidates to explain the key issues. And they will be left in no doubt; British farming matters. Our sector provides 475,000 jobs in the UK, produces 61% of the nation’s food and manages 70% of the countryside.
Now is the time to get involved and make sure your voice is heard. It is our opportunity to help shape the views of the people who will shape future agricultural policy. There is no better way to do this than speaking directly to your local candidates and, where possible, inviting them to your farm.
I have hosted and been to many MP farm visits over the years and it is clear to see how much they appreciate and understand the issues at hand when they can be shown them by one of their own constituents. Our external affairs team has created a toolkit to help members set up these meetings so, if you want some help getting one off the ground, give your regional office a call. And I urge everyone to participate in the forthcoming hustings which will be organised by our staff and county adviser network at the regional and local offices.
There is no doubt that the UK's decision to leave the EU is dominating the political agenda. Now is the time to plan for a prosperous future when the UK exits the EU. Our manifesto highlights the reasons why farming matters to society. Indeed a poll by YouGov commissioned by the NFU shows that 85% of people believe it is important that Britain has a productive and resilient farming industry. The UK’s exit from the EU must work for British farmers especially when it comes to trade, access to a workforce and a robust domestic agricultural policy.
During the past month the NFU has held many meetings with influential people regarding Brexit. We held our first official meeting with Dr Liam Fox at the Department of International Trade prior to the announcement of the General Election. We emphasised the importance of food and farming and how unfair free trade deals around the world could easily jeopardise our ability to compete. I explained the need to increase our production, our productivity and profitability. He did say that apart from scoping out future trade deals it would not be possible to negotiate any deal until we have exited the EU, but he was very bullish when it came to our ability to export top quality British food products to new destinations. We will now hold further meetings to better understand the implications of Brexit for British farmers and to keep highlighting the need for a positive trade deal for British farming.
We also held a very constructive meeting in Brussels with the UK Ambassador Sir Timothy Barrow. Sir Timothy will be advising our negotiators as the serious discussions progress and he has suggested setting up quarterly meetings, a very positive move.
With so much going on it would be easy to miss some of the other key wins including the announcement from the Co-op that in future all its fresh meat will be sourced from the UK. This is a positive statement that should give confidence to British livestock farmers at a time when we should be looking at shorter supply chains backed by Red Tractor standards.
