Yeo pledges to fight EU red tape
5 October 2000
Yeo pledges to fight EU red tape
By FWi staff
BRITAIN would be put into the slow lane for implementing Brussels directives under a Conservative government, shadow farm minister Tim Yeo has promised.
Speaking at the Tory Party conference in Bournemouth, Mr Yeo said rules would not be enforced any quicker than in France, Spain or Italy.
He added that he would do his “damnedest to stop any more needless regulation from being introduced”, reports The Daily Telegraph.
Mr Yeo said measures such as the Nitrates Directive and the Integrated Pollution Prevention Control Directive were applied more rigorously in Britain than elsewhere.
He pledged a tenant-farmer retirement scheme, a common standard for organic food and planning guidance making it easier to use old buildings for business.
Mr Yeo said he would repeal the energy tax, which has been opposed by the horticulture industry.
The shadow agriculture minister also showed some sympathy for opposition to genetically modified crops, reports The Guardian.
He promised he would agree to GM crops being grown commercially “on the basis of sound science alone”.
The newspaper says this approach is more cautious than Labours and is calculated to reassure voters.
Mr Yeo said while he condemned anything unlawful, he could understand why anti-GM protesters were “driven to” ripping up crops”.
Tory leader William Hague and hundreds of other Conservatives attended their own country fair at Bournemouth pier to show their support for the rural way of life.
- Tories make TB a high priority, FWi, 03 October, 2000
- Labour sees country as a rural Dome, FWi, 03 October, 2000
- The Daily Telegraph 05/10/2000 page 8
- The Guardian 5/10/2000 page 10
- Financial Times 5/10/2000 page 4
- The Independent 5/10/2000 page 9