Domestic Farming and Food Supply

John Slinger Excerpts

Tuesday 27th October 2026 Westminster Hall

[Carla Lockhart]

Absolutely. Farm payments are critical to ensuring just that. I wholeheartedly agree with the hon. Member, who is another real advocate for our farming and rural communities.

Our farmers will make improvements where there are practical, affordable ways to do so, but they should not have their livelihoods put at risk by targets pursued with little regard for the consequences. The same applies to imports. Earlier this year, I raised concerns about imported eggs and egg products, including reports that imports had increased by 60% since 2021. Our producers have spent considerable sums meeting the standards required of them. They are rightly angry at the prospect of being undercut by egg producers under systems that would not be permitted here. Government cannot impose those costs on our farmers and then shrug their shoulders when cheaper products arrive from elsewhere.

[John Slinger (Rugby) (Lab)]

On imports, the hon. Lady might be touching on one of the really important topics for the farming community, which is the huge power of the supermarket chains in setting prices. Farm-gate prices are clearly making it very difficult for farmers to earn the decent living that they so deserve. Does she agree that the Government should absolutely take on board some of the comments by Baroness Batters on that, and do everything they can to ensure that farmers get a fair price and that competition works not just in the interests of the supermarkets, but in those of our farmers?

[Carla Lockhart]

Again, I agree; it is a point well made. Another area in which the Government can help our farmers is public procurement, and they should be doing far more. I have challenged the sourcing of food for Northern Ireland schools. Information provided to me showed that approximately 80% of the Education Authority’s beef came from the Republic of Ireland, with around 20% from Northern Ireland. Given the quality of beef produced on our doorstep, I believe that is wrong.

I have also raised the use of halal-certified chicken. The Education Authority has said that it could not meet demand if halal chicken were excluded from its supply. Again, when we look at Northern Ireland and the number of chicken producers there, that should not be the case. We should be able to supply our own markets. Parents are entitled to know what their children are being served and to have clear information about the choices, and they want home-grown food. I want the Department of Finance in Northern Ireland, and indeed the Treasury here, to use public money wisely and to support our local markets.

I also want to return to an issue that I have raised repeatedly with this Government: illegal meat imports. Our farmers can do everything asked of them on biosecurity and still have their livelihoods put at risk by failures at the border. In January last year, around 600 kg of non-compliant meat was stopped at Larne after travelling through Great Britain. I commend the officials who intercepted it, but it should concern every Minister responsible that it had travelled so far without being detected.

At Dover, almost 99 tonnes were seized during 2024, in 868 separate seizures. In December that year, more than six tonnes were intercepted within just 14 hours, including pork reported to have come from areas of Romania affected by African swine fever. In the first three months of 2025 alone, 58 tonnes were seized. I have raised this issue in writing and directly with Ministers. Last year, the Government outlined joint working between agencies, funding offered to Dover Port Health Authority and plans to tackle vehicles used by smugglers. I want the Minister to tell us today what has changed as a result: how much additional inspection capacity is now operating, what prosecutions have followed, whether our enforcement agencies are getting the resources they need, and whether the Government have properly addressed the weaknesses raised about the border target operating model.

Farmers remember foot and mouth. They remember the destruction, the restrictions and the heartbreak. We cannot allow those lessons to be forgotten. The cost of effective enforcement must be weighed against the devastation that a serious disease outbreak could cause. Those involved in this trade need to face consequences that make them think twice. Seize the products, disrupt the operation and pursue prosecutions wherever the evidence allows.

Northern Ireland’s farmers also face additional friction within the UK market created by the Windsor framework. A great deal has been made about how the EU reset will benefit them. We are apparently supposed to welcome the rest of the United Kingdom being brought under SPS rules that it does not make and cannot change.