Farming and Food Security
Debate between Judith Cummins and Luke Charters(1 month, 2 weeks ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Mr Charters
I thank my hon. Friend, who is a fantastic advocate for her constituents. The agriculture budget is hugely important to protect food security.
Another critical issue is biosecurity, so I was disappointed to see that the Opposition left it out of their motion. At present, the UK has a number of confirmed cases of bluetongue. I was briefed by the deputy chief veterinary officer earlier today. I welcome the Secretary of State’s action on bluetongue serotype 3 vaccines. That, coupled with the exclusion zones policy, is a welcome first response to what is a complex crisis fuelled by climate change—I will not get into the intricacies of midges and the wind from the continent. That is a clear signal that the Government are taking biosecurity seriously.
I want to touch on my recent engagement with Sainsbury’s. I hope colleagues from across the House will join me in welcoming food retailers that put food security at the heart of their business model. I am encouraged by what Sainsbury’s is doing.
I am conscious of time, but I just stress that food is one of the 13 critical national infrastructure sectors in the UK. Food security is national security, so I respectfully say to the Opposition: stop the politics and work constructively with us on food security. It is great to see the Government making progress. I look forward to working with them to safeguard Britain’s national food security.
