Following the announcement that Rishi Sunak (MP) has been appointed as the new Prime Minister (PM), Ulster Farmers’ Union president David Brown said, “Many challenges are facing the new Prime Minister following his appointment this week (24 October). The need for stability and confidence is needed now more than ever as everyone in the United Kingdom (UK), food producers and consumers alike, are struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis.
“In particular, rural communities must not be forgotten. We need government to shield the most vulnerable in our society and reassure them that officials are working sincerely and effectively with their interests at heart. The crippling rise of energy costs must be lessened to help farm families who are not only trying to keep an agriculture business going, but are working to support a home too.
“As well as achieving climate change goals with farmers having a key role to play, food security must be made a priority. Food is becoming a concern globally with the population forecast to reach 10 billion by 2050 and currently, the UK is only 60 percent self-sufficient. The COVID-19 pandemic, extreme weather conditions and the ongoing war in Ukraine showed just how fragile and crucial local food production is. Therefore, it’s in everyone’s best interest that the PM protects the UK’s world leading standards within policy, supporting our farmers as competitive food producers and developing the agri food industry as a whole. By doing so, it will help to ensure that regardless of what is going on in the wider world, there is always plenty of high-quality, affordable homegrown produce available.
“Locally, the Northern Ireland (NI) Protocol is a matter that remains unresolved. Pragmatic solutions need to be found urgently through negotiations to ensure it is workable for every farming sector and the NI business community must be consulted. We also need to get our Executive at Stormont back up and running so that vital decisions affecting our farming industry can be made going forward.
“We look forward to working with the new PM to develop our local agri-food industry to ensure it thrives, becomes more sustainable and profitable. The UFU would like to invite the PM to NI so that he can witness first-hand the unique farm family structure that we have here and how important our local agri-food industry it is to the economy, rural communities, and tourism.”
