Kennedy urges action on German beef
7 February 2001
Kennedy urges action on German beef
By FWi staff
LIBERAL Democrat leader Charles Kennedy has called on the government to take urgent action to prevent sub-standard beef from entering Britain.
Mr Kennedy told the National Farmers Union annual conference in London that German beef containing banned material clearly breached BSE rules.
“It is particularly galling that our farmers, who are adhering to the highest standards in the world, are seeing this beef coming into this country,” he said.
This is a clear breach of BSE regulations it is totally unacceptable.
Mr Kennedy accused the government of “almost psychologically” failing to understand the problems faced by British farmers and rural communities.
The Labour Partys majority did not depend on rural constituencies, and it was more concerned with wooing suburban voters, he told delegates.
But the Conservative Party did not have the answers either, because many problems faced by rural communities took place when they were in office.
Mr Kennedy said the government should address the problem of the high value of Sterling against the Euro, which was making food exports difficult.
Subsidies set in Euros were also being devalued, he said, and ministers should apply for agrimonetary compensation to be paid to farmers.
Mr Kennedy said a Liberal Democrat government would introduce countryside contracts so more farmers could take part in environmental schemes.
There is so much more that could be done with a little bit more determination and imagination, he said.