Ministers comments raise aid hopes
9 March 2000
Ministers comments raise aid hopes
by FWi staff
AGRICULTURE minister Nick Brown has confirmed that British farmers could be compensated financially for their higher animal welfare standards.
The statement is likely to fuel speculation that the government is set to announce emergency short-term aid for the farming sector.
Mr Brown said he wanted to use the rural development package to help counter the effects of cheaper imports from countrys with lower standards.
I know how strongly the British public values animal welfare, he told the Agra-Europe Outlook 2000 conference in London on Thursday (March 9).
One way forward would be specific, proportionate green box payments, to compensate farmers for the extra costs of high animal welfare.
The comments came less than 24 hours after Tony Blair announced a farm summit later this month to discuss the governments strategy for agriculture.
Farm leaders will join ministers at a meeting in Downing Street to discuss the partnership between agriculture and the government on March 30.
Mr Brown will attend the summit along with his Scottish and Welsh counterparts Ross Finnie and Christine Gywther.
Mr Finnie refused to be drawn on how much money might be made available to farmers or to which agricultural sectors it might be directed.
He declined to give any details, asking only that farmers should accept that he was fighting for them to try and secure an aid package from Westminster.
Jim Walker, president of the Scottish NFU, has already stated his belief that producers could see another injection of government cash within the next month, said.
Very difficult and very delicate negotiations are underway that clearly involve a significant price tag, he told delegates at the unions annual conference last week.
But farmers themselves would still have to find solutions to the industrys long-term problems, added Mr Walker.
Unless we look to ourselves, and try to find solutions, we are not going to be secure or sustainable in the future, he said.
Ben Gill, president of the NFU, described the summit as the vital next step in this process to help the industry ride out the worst slump in living memory.
Many in our industry are teetering on the brink, adding that it was important the not to underestimate necessity of short term measures to help farmers survive.
Colin Breed, Lib Dem agriculture spokesman, said it was time for Mr Blair to openly make up his mind whether or not he would help farmers.
The time has come for the Prime Minister to decide finally if he is going to provide immediate financial support for agriculture, he said.
If the government is not going to help then Mr Blair must say so now.