Beckett pledges to be farmers friend
1 October 2001
Beckett pledges to be farmers’ friend
By Isabel Davies in Brighton
RURAL Affairs Secretary Margaret Beckett has suggested that her department could become a friend to farming, and not just its regulator.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs could become a “critical friend” for the farming industry, she said.
Mrs Beckett made the comment during a fringe meeting at the Labour Party conference fringe in Brighton on Sunday (30 September).
Farming profitability was not necessarily at odds with environmental sustainability, she told listeners.
“Both are necessary for the future survival, and certainly the future development, of agriculture.”
But the industry must work with the government to reform the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP), Mrs Beckett added.
The CAP must be become a framework which allows European Union countries to develop non-distorting policies that suit local circumstances.
This process of change has to start now rather than being postponed until better times, Mrs Beckett said.
“The wider European public will, I believe, no longer permit farming to carry on as before, let alone be prepared to pay for it,” she said.
“We cant afford to listen to those who say that, because change will be difficult, we have to postpone it for a year.”
Mrs Becketts comments came in response to questions from Ben Gill, president of the National Farmers Union.
Mr Gill had asked to know whether the new department would continue in its traditional role as the “sponsor and promoter” of UK farming.
“There is an opportunity now … for Defra to concentrate much more on promoting the industry,” he said.
The department had the chance promote the industry for the good of farmers, consumers, taxpayers and the environment, Mr Gill added.