Farming
MP Greg Backs British Farming Day
Greg has met East Yorkshire farmers to discuss environmental and agricultural concerns, including the importance of food production and on-going drainage issues.
The meeting, organised by the National Farmers Union, followed a farm visit organised by local farmer John Gatenby.
Farmers emphasised their wish to see long term planning form part of the new agenda for agriculture. Other issues discussed covered farm biodiversity and sustainable food production.
Sir Greg said afterwards that he welcomed the positive and constructive meeting and that he would be relaying the views expressed during the wide-ranging discussion to the agriculture minister George Eustice MP at Westminster.
Sir Greg added: “British farmers produce food to some of the highest standards in the world and as new schemes of support are put in place, we need to ensure that we incentivise sustainable food production alongside environmental improvements.
Greg Backs Pig Industry
Greg has welcomed the announcement of new government support for the pig industry, in the wake of a supply chain crisis which has threatened the livelihoods of pig farmers across the country.
The government has announced that to ease the crisis caused by a shortage of abattoir workers, 800 temporary visas will be given to overseas slaughtermen to allow them to deal with the backlog.
The move follows urgent discussions between Sir Greg and other concerned MPs with Government Ministers.
Sir Greg said: “I am pleased that the government has now taken action to tackle this crisis. It is a very significant step that will go a long way in addressing the problem.
MP Greg Backs British Farming Day
Sir Greg is backing local farmers by supporting the NFU British Farming Day on Wednesday 9th September 2020. The occasion provides a focus on the importance of British food and farming, which contributes over £120 billion to the national economy and provides jobs for more than 4 million people.
Greg says: “Our farmers produce food to the highest standards in the world while protecting and enhancing our countryside and a strong farming sector is vital to our nation’s health and prosperity.
Sir Greg adds: “There has never been a more important time to Back British Farming and acknowledge the role farmers play in feeding the nation and caring for the countryside.
“Local farmers not only fill the shelves of our grocery stores, they also provide the raw materials to keep 4 million people employed”.
“Agriculture is vital not least for the jobs and produce that it provides here in East Yorkshire. It is imperative that we ‘buy British’ whenever possible to help to give local farming a prosperous long-term future”.
Knight Welcomes Conservative Commitment to Farming
* Published before the 2019 General Election
East Yorkshire MP Sir Greg Knight has welcomed the announcement that the Conservatives will protect funding for British farmers, enabling them to take full advantage of the opportunities of Brexit.
In a significant boost to the farming sector across the UK, a new Conservative government would match the current annual budget available to farmers in every year of the next Parliament. This funding will support farmers as they move away from the EU’s bureaucratic, unfair and environmentally-damaging Common Agricultural Policy.
Ministers also announced the Conservatives will use the opportunity of leaving the EU to urge the public sector to “Buy British”, in recognition of the quality of British food.
Greg is a long-term campaigner on farming issues, particularly against lax EU food labelling laws which allow inferior imported produce to be passed off as British. Greg says: ‘Farmers need stability, certainty and a smooth transition, so this new announcement of funding is good news for them’.
‘With the freedom the UK will have to introduce clearer ‘country of origin’ labelling when we leave the EU and the Conservative Government drive to promote high quality British produce, our farmers can look forward to a Brexit bounce’.
Theresa Villiers, Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said:
‘Brexit provides a huge opportunity to transform British farming. By leaving the discredited Common Agricultural Policy, we can help British farmers become more productive at the same time as improving our natural environment’.
‘I am delighted to announce that a Conservative government would guarantee to match the current annual budget available to farmers in every year of the next Parliament. This gives farmers across the UK the reassurance they need to plan for the future’.
‘It’s only by getting Brexit done that we can create a bright new future for farming.
The last thing farmers need is the prolonged uncertainty and chaos of two more referendums under Labour’.
