UFU parliamentary officer Alexander Kinnear, UFU president David Brown and Francie Molly MP.
Parliamentary update by Alexander Kinnear
Lobbying at Westminster is a key focus of the Ulster Farmers’ Union (UFU). Although responsibilities and powers for agriculture are a devolved matter for the Northern Ireland (NI) Executive and Assembly, in a post Brexit world the £300 million in direct farm support now comes from the UK Treasury, not Brussels. This now means that representations must be made to the government of the day making the case for the need for direct farm support to ensure that food is affordable for consumers.
UFU raises other matters at Westminster such as outstanding Windsor Framework issues, the need for an SPS/Veterinary agreement between the UK and EU, the consequences of global trade deals such as New Zealand and Australia and how tax raising powers effect farmers. In a combination, the UFU works with all NI MPs, government ministers and members of the shadow cabinet in a bid to resolve the current set of challenges and to plan for the future.
UFU recently attended a summer reception at Westminster kindly hosted by the NFU on ‘Talking Rural Mental Health’. These events provide an opportunity to discuss not only the main theme of the reception but enable an opportunity to network amongst MPs from all political parties.
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UFU parliamentary officer Alexander Kinnear, UFU president David Brown and Francie Molly MP.
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UFU representatives pictured with Ian Paisley MP.
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Sammy Wilson MP and Paul Girvan MP pictured with UFU president David Brown.
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Sir Jeffrey Donaldson MP, UFU president David Brown and UFU parliamentary officer Alexander Kinnear.
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UFU representatives pictured with Jim Shannon MP.
