Oral Answers to Questions

Angela Eagle Excerpts

Thursday 19th March 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dame Meg Hillier (Hackney South and Shoreditch) (Lab/Co-op)]

4. If she will make an assessment of the potential impact of public ownership of markets on food security.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

The Government recognise the importance of wholesale markets for the customers and communities they serve. We have limited recent evidence, however, of the impact that public ownership of markets has on food security.

[Dame Meg Hillier]

A number of us in London are concerned about the City of London’s proposal to put through a private Bill to relinquish its responsibility for providing the fish and meat markets, Billingsgate and Smithfield. A lot of our constituents rely on Billingsgate for selling and buying fresh fish, and it is important for our restaurant sector. Do the Government have any view on the City of London’s position, and how can we protect these food markets, so that there is no diminishment of the opportunity to get fresh food in London?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

We recognise Billingsgate’s importance as a UK distribution hub for fish, and we will continue to monitor the proposed transition closely. We are engaging with the City of London Corporation on the proposed changes.

[Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)]

I thank the Minister for her response to the hon. Member for Hackney South and Shoreditch (Dame Meg Hillier), who always brings forward interesting matters for this House to consider. I always underline the importance of farming, fishing and food in Northern Ireland, and would not want a change to the public ownership of markets in Northern Ireland to impact us in any way. May I, very respectfully and genuinely, ask the Minister whether she has had an opportunity to discuss these matters with the relevant Minister in Northern Ireland, to ensure that nothing similar to what the hon. Lady says may happen in London, happens to us?

[Mr Speaker]

Good luck with that!

[Dame Angela Eagle]

Mr Speaker, all I can do is express my admiration of the hon. Gentleman’s ingenuity in ensuring that his question is in order.

[Mr Speaker]

I would not say it was in order.

[Dame Angela Eagle]

It gives a new meaning to the London Irish.

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

Only 55% of Britain’s food is produced in Britain, so food security should be a much bigger priority for this Government. Donald Trump’s war in the middle east, Putin’s war on Ukraine and all the other global shocks have not woken up the Government to this, yet England is now the only country in the UK, and the only country in Europe, that does not financially support farmers in producing food. Is that not recklessly foolish, and will the Minister not amend the farm payment scheme to change that?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

Local markets are extremely important, particularly for maintaining food supply locally, and I am very interested in seeing what we can do to assist. Most markets are owned and operated by local authorities. I think the Covent Garden Market Authority is the only wholesale market that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs still looks after. I recognise the hon. Member’s comments on food security, but this country is 67% self-sufficient in food at the moment, or 77% if one takes out the produce we cannot grow, such as mangoes and bananas. Nobody is complacent about that, and we are looking at this very closely. The new farming and food partnership board will be looking at it, and the first sector we will look at is horticulture.

[Callum Anderson (Buckingham and Bletchley) (Lab)]

5. What steps she is taking to reform the sustainable farming incentive.

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[Ian Byrne (Liverpool West Derby) (Lab)]

8. What assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of introducing a statutory right to food.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

The Government are taking strong action to improve access to good, nutritious food. We have extended eligibility for free school meals to half a million more children, and free, universal breakfast clubs are being introduced across the country. We are also reforming crisis support through the introduction of the crisis and resilience fund.

[Ian Byrne]

The Right to Food UK Commission, launched last November, is gathering vital evidence from policy experts and those with lived experience of food poverty from across the UK—next week we will be Aberdare and Cardiff. I would like to put on the record my thanks to my hon. Friend the Minister for the positive meeting we had last week on the commission. Will the Secretary of State commit to meeting me later this year, upon publication of the commission’s legislative road map, so that we can work together to ensure that the right to food is finally committed to law and tackle the scourge of hunger in our communities?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I certainly welcome the opportunity to discuss my hon. Friend’s work in this area. We agree on the importance of the problems that the commission is looking to resolve and look forward to seeing its final report. The Government are working across Departments to improve access to healthy and affordable food. We have already introduced the junk food ad ban and mandatory targets for healthier food sales from our food industry, and we are committed to breaking the link between obesity and poverty.

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

Is this a wind-up, Mr Speaker? They will be asking for collective farms in this socialist paradise next. Has the Minister made any assessment of the impact that a right to food would have on the public purse once our activist judges got hold of it?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I have to say that a study of history demonstrates that collectivising the food system does not usually work.

[Christine Jardine (Edinburgh West) (LD)]

9. Whether she plans to increase the level of funding available to agricultural industries.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

Rising input costs, including for fertiliser, have contributed to pressure on many farm businesses in recent years. We continually assess how global cost volatility affects farm productivity and the resilience of the sector.

[Christine Jardine]

Edinburgh West may not seem like the most rural constituency, but we have several critical agricultural businesses in the seat, including the Royal Highland Centre in Ingliston and a number of businesses that are diversifying into agritourism. There is funding available, but it is often unclear how to get it or how to align it for, say, the conversion of buildings. Can the Minister commit to making it clearer how agricultural businesses that want to diversify can access the funding?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I would love to—if the hon. Lady’s constituency was in England. Agriculture is a devolved matter, and she must therefore ask the Scottish Government.

[Will Stone (Swindon North) (Lab)]

10. Whether the implementation of the good food cycle strategy includes supporting the growth of the alternative protein sector.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

The Government’s good food cycle strategy sees alternative proteins as a major opportunity, and not just for the economy but for health, sustainability and food resilience. We are backing the sector and working with the Food Standards Agency on novel food programmes to accelerate precision fermentation technology.

[Will Stone]

I thank the Minister for her response. The cultivated meat sector could bring in billions of pounds to the UK economy and help to increase food chain security. Companies such as Hoxton Farms are leading the way in this—they are genuinely world-leading. Will she support growth in this industry and meet me and Hoxton Farms to see how we can do it better?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

I am happy to meet my hon. Friend and congratulate the company he mentions, which is leading the way in this area. We have a major national hub for plant-based, cultivated and fermentation-based research and development, which is at the forefront of progress in this exciting new area.

[Monica Harding (Esher and Walton) (LD)]

11. What steps she is taking to support flood preparedness projects in the Esher and Walton constituency.

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[Ben Goldsborough (South Norfolk) (Lab)]

T8. One in five people face a vitamin D deficiency, with serious health impacts, but in South Norfolk we are part of the solution. The John Innes Centre is boosting vitamin D in tomatoes using gene-editing technology, and the Quadrum Institute is studying the impact. Will the Minister visit Norwich research park to support the changing agritech that is supporting people to live healthier lives?

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

We are committed to growing the agritech and engineering biology sectors, which are key to the industrial strategy. We are allocating £200 million to the farming innovation programme precisely for this purpose. I look forward to trying to visit my hon. Friend as soon as I am out that way.

[Tom Tugendhat (Tonbridge) (Con)]

T4. I was wondering whether the Minister has had a chance to speak to her colleague the Housing Secretary about the different pressures that water is having on housing demand in Kent. If she had spoken to Tonbridge and Malling council and South East Water, she would have heard that the planned house building is simply not possible with the water capability available. Has she engaged in any way with her housing colleagues, and does she have an answer for the people in my community?

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[Aphra Brandreth (Chester South and Eddisbury) (Con)]

T7. Red diesel prices have shot up by 60%, a third of the world’s fertiliser goes through the strait of Hormuz, and energy prices are skyrocketing. All that is creating challenges for farmers, and will ultimately affect the prices we pay for food in the shops. What is the Minister doing to work across Departments to reduce pressure on farmers, and to reassure them that, for once, the Government understand the challenges they face and their importance for UK food security?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

We are well aware that events in the middle east are putting pressure on input prices. The hon. Lady mentions red diesel and fertiliser for the farming sector. I have talked to the chief executive officer of the Competition and Markets Authority. We are taking a close look at what is happening to ensure that there is no market abuse, and will keep a close eye on the situation as it develops. My right hon. Friend the Chancellor has already announced extra support for heating oil in rural communities. We keep a watching brief on this important matter.

[Daniel Francis (Bexleyheath and Crayford) (Lab)]

Although they appreciate the need to put right the failings of the past, my constituents continue to raise concerns about Thames Water’s price increase last year. Will the Minister assure them that Thames Water is being held to account and will provide information to customers about how local infrastructure will be improved?

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[Chris Law (Dundee Central) (SNP)]

The fishing and coastal growth fund saw an utterly meagre £28 million devolved to Scotland and £304 million allocated to England, even though Scotland represents 60% of fishing capacity in the UK. Despite the Government’s inability to understand basic arithmetic, is the Minister considering mitigations to ensure that Scotland’s fishing industry and coastal communities can thrive?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

In the comprehensive spending review, the Scottish Government received the largest real-terms increase in their funding since devolution. If they wish to support Scotland’s thriving fishing industry further, they have every right to do so.

[Victoria Atkins]

On a point of order, Mr Speaker. The Secretary of State announced yet another supposedly significant policy this week—the land use framework—outside Parliament, and has not offered an oral statement so that Ministers may be scrutinised. This is the fifth time she has done this. The other four occasions were the Baroness Batters review, the animal welfare strategy, the family farm tax fiasco and the SFI scheme, which has attracted many questions today because colleagues need to know more details for their constituents. What can be done to encourage the Secretary of State to make a proper announcement in the House so that Members of Parliament can—