What would Gordon Brown mean for UK farming?
A Gordon Brown-led government would be bad for British agriculture.
That, at least, is the common perception, as expressed in a pre-Labour Party conference poll on FWi. Of the 942 users who participated, a massive 86% believed he would be worse for farming than Tony Blair.
Given his track record, it is easy to see why.
Mr Brown was the architect of last year’s Vision document. That argued strongly for the elimination of all farm support by 2020.
His has also been a loud voice urging EU trade commissioner Peter Mandelson to be more ambitious in the WTO.And Mr Brown played a key role in brokering last December’s EU budget deal, which has proved a disaster for UK farming.
It might be a cheap shot, but his speech to this week’s Labour Party conference contained not one mention of farming, suggesting it is pretty much off his radar as he prepares to take over at 10 Downing Street.
But despite all this, industry figures in Manchester this week were less dismissive of Mr Brown and the impact he could have on British agriculture.
DEFRA secretary David Miliband was quick to point out that Mr Brown had some farming interest in his family – possibly an uncle or cousin – so would not be out of touch with farming issues. He believed that, as well as having a vision for the CAP to 2020, he would have a vision for farming.
NFU vice-president Paul Temple said he was encouraged that environmental issues were now a feature of competitive politics, with all the main parties looking to appeal to the public.
This could be to farming’s advantage, though it was essential a Gordon Brown government got behind biofuels in the same way that France and Germany have done.
Mr Temple insisted that Mr Brown’s environmental credentials were already on the line and urged him to match fund any money that is taken from farmers’ single farm payments through voluntary national modulation.
RSPB chief executive Graham Wynne said he did not expect to see significant changes for agriculture under a Gordon Brown government in the medium term.
“I would expect him to behave in Brussels in much the same way as Tony Blair, pushing reform of the CAP, but supporting the use of public money for public goods.”
But, he added, longer term Mr Brown was less enthusiastic about payments to farmers in any form. “If there is another crisis in agriculture, such as foot-and-mouth, then it would be much harder for farmers to get government help,” said Mr Wynne.
NFU parliamentary adviser Barney Holbeche added that, while he may have developed a “certain reputation” the Chancellor was enthusiastic about small businesses and entrepreneurs, which could be a plus for agriculture.
For further information about what happened at this week’s Labour Party Conference:
- November decision for 2006 SFP advance
- Conventional farming detrimental to environment, insists the Soil Association