When 9pm edged into view on Tuesday evening the nation soon came around from its post bank holiday stupor as May vs. Corbyn unfolded. This was very much a lightweight debate, their eyes never met, the questions seemed soft but still I managed to experience the same intense edginess as I had previously done in the live Brexit debates just a year before.
It’s safe to say that Paxman out Paxman’d himself, and in doing so left Corbyn looking composed, self-assured and confident. Whilst May demonstrated some a-class avoidance techniques which only the finest media training can provide. I went to bed with ‘no deal is better than a bad deal’ ringing in my ears and no clear idea of what each party is doing to support farming, fishing and the environment.
So, whilst I’ve got the chance pre-June 8th I have explored what each of the main parties have put in their manifesto in relation to sustainable farming, fishing and agricultural communities.
Hopefully it will be of help to you too-Enjoy!
Please note the points below have been taken directly from each party’s manifesto.
Conservatives -under the heading ‘Our countryside communities’
1. Huge ambitions for farming industry: we are determined to grow more, sell more and export more great British food.
2. Provide stability to farmers as we leave the EU and set up new frameworks for supporting food production and stewardship of the countryside.
3. Continue to commit the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of the parliament.
4. Work with farmers, food producers and environmental experts across Britain and with the devolved administrations to devise a new agri-environment system, to be introduced in the following parliament.
5. Help Natural England to expand their provision of technical expertise to farmers to deliver environmental improvements on a landscape scale, from enriching soil fertility to planting hedgerows and building dry stone walls.
6. Improve natural flood management, such as improving the quality of water courses to protect against soil erosion and damage to vulnerable habitats and communities.
7. Ensure that public forests and woodland are kept in trust for the nation, and provide stronger protections for our ancient woodland.
8. Work with the fishing industry and with our world-class marine scientists, as well as the devolved administrations, to introduce a new regime for commercial fishing that will preserve and increase fish stock and help to ensure prosperity for a new generation of fishermen.
Labour -under the heading ‘Environment’
1. Defend and extend existing environmental protections.
2. Champion sustainable farming, food and fishing by investing in and promoting skills, technology, market access and innovation.
3. Prioritise a sustainable, long-term future for our farming, fishing and food industries, fund robust flood resilience, invest in rural and coastal communities, and guarantee the protection and advancement of environmental quality standards.
4. Introduce a New Clean Air Act to deal with the Conservative legacy of illegal air quality. We will safeguard habitats and species in the ‘blue belts’ of the seas and oceans surrounding our island.
5. Set guiding targets for plastic bottle deposit schemes, working with food manufacturers and retailers to reduce waste.
6. Protect our bees by prohibiting neonicotinoids as soon as our EU relationship allows us to do so.
7. Work with farmers and foresters to plant a million trees of native species to promote biodiversity and better flood management.
Liberal democrats- under the heading ‘farming, food, and agriculture’
1. Reform agricultural subsidies – making sure British farming remains competitive and doesn’t lose out in the event of Britain leaving the EU, rebalancing away from direct subsidy and refocusing support towards the public goods that come from effective land management including countryside protection, flood prevention, food production, and climate change mitigation.
2. Ensure that smaller farms are protected and move support away from large landowners, whilst delivering a more localised agricultural policy.
3. Encourage new and younger entrants to farming by championing different forms of ownership including longer tenancies, share farming, and community ownership.
4. Introduce a National Food Strategy to promote the production and consumption of healthy, sustainable and affordable food.
5. Increase the powers of the Groceries Code Adjudicator and extend its remit to include businesses further up the supply chain, helping to ensure that farmers receive a fair price.
6. Continue to improve standards of animal health and welfare in agriculture by updating farm animal welfare codes and promoting the responsible stewardship of antibiotic drugs.
7. Ensure that future trade deals require high safety, environmental and animal welfare standards for food imports, including clear and unambiguous country of origin labelling for meat and dairy products.
8. Develop safe, effective, humane, and evidence-based ways of controlling bovine TB, including by investing to produce workable vaccines.
9. Defend and maintain our fishing industry by not allowing fishing rights to be traded away against other policy areas, and work with the industry and other stakeholders to develop a national plan for sustainable fisheries
Other farming manifestos
In addition to the main party manifestos other rural organisations have released their own these include but aren’t limited to: NFU, NFU Cymru, NFU Scotland, the CLA, the Soil Association, the Tenant Farmers' Association, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the British Veterinary Association, the Farmers' Union of Wales, the Ulster Farmers' Union, the Agricultural Industries Confederation and the Countryside Alliance.