Both major political parties agree that UK food production is in crisis, but neither is addressing the elephant in the room: Brexit and the border between the UK and EU, says Hugh Radojev.
While the PM offers the UK farming industry a mixture of meaningless platitudes, empty rhetoric, and pocket change funding, neither he nor the opposition government-in-waiting are willing to address the elephant in the room: Brexit.
Yesterday, Rishi Sunak hosted representatives from the UK food industry at 10 Downing Street for a farm-to-fork summit. The conclave was set against the backdrop of a dampening confidence – both literally, and figuratively – among UK food producers.
A historically wet winter has bled into a damp spring which, in turn, has led to poor crop yields. As a result, experts have estimated that UK food production will fall 8% this year.
While extreme weather events have taken their toll, something else is rotten at the heart of UK farming. At least, according to a survey by the National Farmers’ Union.
“In what appear to be the dying days of his premiership, Sunak and his government have failed to roll out much in the way of new ideas for saving UK food production”
Farmers overwhelmingly feel their businesses are less profitable, with over half of fruit and vegetable growers fearing they may go out of business within the year.
In response to the existential problems facing the UK’s future food security, the government’s proposals have been characteristically weak: made up of a mixture of bombastic nativist rhetoric and technocratic babble about innovation, combined with almost laughably small amounts of actual investment – around a £40m annual increase for fruit and vegetable producers, in real terms.
In what appear to be the dying days of his premiership, Sunak and his government have failed to roll out much in the way of new ideas for saving UK food production domestically. In the interests of impartiality and balance, while shadow environment minister Steve Reed used yesterday’s summit as a chance to criticise “14 years of Tory failure”, Labour’s main contribution to this discussion has been an unheralded 10-page policy document.
While both major political parties agree that UK food production is in crisis, the same can’t be said for the other major factor impacting food security: Brexit and the border between the UK and EU.
Only today, newspaper headlines have been dominated by problems – lorries full of perishable food products waiting for up to 20 hours at UK ports, after the government’s IT systems for new checks failed.
While the government is already trying to spin this as simply an unlucky failure of technology, it’s worth bearing in mind that these new checks were only implemented in April as part of the next phase of the Brexit agreement.
“Anything less than an honest conversation about Brexit would be patently dishonest and would do a disservice to retailers, producers and suppliers”
They are also substantially a lighter touch than the more onerous checks on food imports that are scheduled to begin next year.
No government can possibly propose to fix the UK’s food security issues, without at the very least having an honest conversation about the problems at the border: the already enormous and only growing cost of wasted man hours, time and money that Brexit is causing, with only worse yet to come.
Anything less would be patently dishonest and would do a disservice to those retailers, producers and suppliers in the food industry who, only a few years ago, were being lionised for their hard work feeding the nation during the pandemic.
Not only that, a refusal to engage with the reality of the political choices made over the last few years would also harm the British consumer – both in terms of choice of produce but also rising costs. All of this at a time when the cost-of-living struggles of the last two years have only just begun to abate.
It’s perhaps not surprising that the Conservatives, the party of Boris Johnson’s ‘oven ready’ Brexit deal, are still determined to yoke themselves to this increasingly unpopular flaming zeppelin of a policy. It’s as much an ideological choice at this point, as it is political.
Slightly more confusing is why Labour also refuses to engage with the Brexit elephant in the room. Sir Keir’s unwillingness to have an opinion on almost any issue of the day has, so far at least, not done his polling numbers any harm.
However, if the last two years in opposition have taught Labour anything – it’s that voters neither forgive nor forget the political party that oversees an increase in the amount they have to pay for basics like food and drink.
For the sake of every part of the UK food supply chain, one might hope against hope that a newly elected Labour government with a sizeable majority would have the foresight to tackle the Brexit border issue once and for all.
As always though, it’s the hope that kills you.
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