Groceries Supply Code of Practice

Keir Mather Excerpts

Monday 22nd January 2024 Westminster Hall

[Keir Mather (Selby and Ainsty) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mrs Murray. I thank the Petitions Committee for selecting this debate, the hon. Member for Neath (Christina Rees) for securing it, and the 167 people in my constituency of Selby and Ainsty who signed the petition.

Farms both large and small are the bedrock of communities in my constituency. North Yorkshire’s farmers are crucial to national supply chains, keeping our shelves stacked and shielding consumers from spiralling prices to the greatest extent they can. Under those circumstances, reforms to the GSCOP seem well overdue. But we suffer from a problem. In naval circles, the term “sea blindness” describes insufficient awareness of the challenges that Britain faces as an island nation overwhelmingly dependent on maritime trade. In 2024, I would argue that we face a similar form of land blindness for UK farming, as many are unaware of the extent to which agricultural production forms both the foundation stone of our national security and the lifeblood of our economic vitality. We must all, including our largest supermarkets, play our role in ensuring that farmers, who form the crucial link in that chain, are given a fair deal.

We know that the supply chain in which UK farmers operate today is volatile, but it is also characterised by very limited market choice, which makes GSCOP reform so necessary. Currently, 95% of Britain’s food is sold through just 12 retailers, which curtails consumer choice and limits farmers’ bargaining power when negotiating contracts with shops that cannot be relied on to properly honour their arrangements.

Moreover, the sector has experienced significant shocks, which have been borne disproportionately by farmers and their families. Unjust trade deals negotiated by this Government, covid-19, the war in Ukraine and multiple climate events have precipitated a form of permacrisis that farmers must navigate through every single day. Meanwhile, many of the supermarkets that farmers supply have seen their profits skyrocket in a climate of inflationary pressures and rising prices.

GSCOP reform would ensure that those retailers played by a fair set of rules and helped farmers to weather some of the global shocks that they are currently experiencing. Those trials are only the start of what farmers in my constituency of Selby and Ainsty face. Between Cawood, Wistow and Kelfield in my constituency, hundreds of acres of prime arable land have been submerged for weeks underneath floodwater, which has killed crops that add to the hundreds of thousands of pounds’ worth of losses that local farmers have so bravely borne and been forced to endure due to repeated flood events.

The farmers not only keep food on all our tables across the UK; they quite literally hold back the water in my part of North Yorkshire to stop homes from flooding. They hold back water that would otherwise reach people’s doorsteps in Selby; they receive no compensation for doing so and get inadequate support from local agencies.

In that context, the very least we can do is ensure that some of the effects are ameliorated for farmers by ensuring that they are paid for what they produce and in a fair and timely fashion. Our farmers require more than just thanks for the service that they provide to the British people: they need to know that they have a Government who are on their side. That is why I am pleased to support the Labour party’s pledge to use Government purchasing power to back our agricultural businesses, ensuring that British produce makes up at least half of the food used in schools, hospitals and prisons. This Prime Minister may have paid lip service to the NFU’s Buy British campaign, but it is the Labour party that is committed to putting those values into practice.

Finally, we must stand alongside the businesses that do their bit to ensure a fair deal for North Yorkshire’s farmers. I draw particular attention to Sedamyl, an agribusiness operating in my constituency that is committed to getting wheat and alcohol production from within 60 miles of its North Yorkshire plant. That is a North Yorkshire business putting its money where its mouth is to support local farmers and preserve our rural way of life. It does not need to be told to meet its obligation to farmers in my constituency, but it is clear that reform of the code is necessary to compel those supermarkets that do not have the same respect for our farming communities to do the right thing and get behind British farmers.

Those efforts will go some way to strengthening the hand of farmers across Selby and Ainsty, giving their family businesses a fair chance at a viable future. They will level the playing field and reshape a system that, for far too many, penalises farmers, and they will hopefully create a stable basis for farmers in my constituency to carry on their family businesses long into the future.

Animal Welfare (Livestock Exports) Bill  

Keir Mather Excerpts

Monday 15th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Ruth Jones]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. I am not sure I know the answer to those questions, and I would be grateful if the Minister answered them in his winding-up speech. The delay has been too long, as my hon. Friend says, and for too long animals have continued to suffer unnecessarily. That is why amendments 2, 3, 4 and 5 are necessary and I am delighted to speak in support of them today.

The Minister will know that the export of live animals from the UK grew substantially during the 1960s and 1970s. Live sheep exports ranged between 85,000 to 411,000 from the 1960s to the 1980s. At the same time beef and veal, including live exports, increased from approximately 65,000 in the early 1970s to nearer 200,000 in the 1980s, and live pig exports rose dramatically from 30,000 to 60,000 in the 1970s, peaking at 619,000 in 1982.

Those dramatic rises and the patterns we have seen more recently make amendments 2, 3 and 4 more important. They are probing and preventive in equal measure. The amendments force us to think about the macro picture facing us and highlight a major inadequacy in this Bill: Ministers have chosen to list the species covered by this legislation on the face of the Bill. We agree and support covering the listed species, but what happens when they are banned? Where will those seeking to profit from the live export of animals look next? With apologies for the pun, Mr Evans, which species and which animals will be moved up the pecking order?

Amendments 2, 3 and 4, like amendment 1 in the name of the hon. Member for Westmorland and Lonsdale (Tim Farron), which we support, would help to force Ministers to take up and recognise a comprehensive, bigger-picture approach—not a race to the bottom to get the bare minimum over the line and no more of a Government simply wanting an easy life. We will demonstrate to our constituents, from Newport West to Northampton North and from Epping Forest to Erewash, that this Parliament takes animal welfare seriously and we have a plan to get things right.

I turn now to amendment 5 in my name and those of my colleagues. This important amendment would allow the appropriate national authority to extend, by statutory instrument subject to the affirmative procedure, the list of livestock species that may not be exported for slaughter. As clause 1 of the Bill sets out, the prohibition on live exports would currently apply to calves, sheep, pigs, wild boar, goats and equines. While those are historically the main farmed animal groups subject to live exports for slaughter, it is not an exclusive list, and other animals could potentially be exported live from GB.

It is also the case that a lack of historical precedent for a particular animal is not a guarantee that live exports will not take place in future, especially as UK livestock farming continues to evolve. That is why we must be vigilant and take whatever preventive measures we can, which we have a unique opportunity to do today with amendment 5.

Labour believes it reasonable for the Secretary of State and the devolved Governments in Holyrood and Cardiff Bay to have the power to extend the export ban to other species if they feel that the science justifies such a move. It may be that the power is never needed, but it seems sensible to allow for the possibility that other species may need to be added to the exclusion list in future, without the need for further primary legislation. Amendment 5 would provide that power, enabling the Secretary of State in England, and Ministers in Scotland and Wales, to add groups of livestock to the Bill through a statutory instrument subject to the affirmative procedure. That would effectively future-proof the Bill and properly make it fit for purpose.

[Keir Mather (Selby and Ainsty) (Lab)]

I am proud to support the Bill and the Labour party’s amendments to add deer, alpacas and llamas to the livestock covered by the ban. However, I am conscious that the Government faltered on ending imports of hunting trophies and shied away from cracking down on puppy farming, so how can we ensure that the Bill will be properly enforced if our amendments are successful?

[Ruth Jones]

My new hon. Friend is quite right: we must ensure that we future-proof the Bill today. I am not convinced at the moment that the Government are completely sympathetic to all our amendments, which I find surprising.

If the Minister is looking for comparable examples, a similar power exists in the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. Section 5(2) essentially states that, should the science materialise in sufficient strength to persuade the Secretary of State of the need to identify other animals as sentient beings, other species can be added to the legislation via secondary legislation. The suggested addition to this Bill would follow that precedent, and I urge the Minister to do the right thing by accepting the amendment. If he does not want to do it for me, I hope that he will do it because the Minister who took the Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act through the House, the hon. Member for Bury St Edmunds (Jo Churchill), did exactly the same thing, for which I pay tribute to her.

This simple, holistic measure could help to expedite the progression of the Bill through Parliament. Would not that be a good thing for one and all? I want the Minister to know that in tabling amendment 5, I am trying to be helpful. I hope that he will accept my help and amendment 5. If the same principle is good for some animal welfare legislation, it has to be good for all animal welfare legislation.

Let me turn to the other amendments before the Committee. I have already indicated that amendment 1—rather like my amendments 2, 3 and 4—will do important work and would have the support of the Labour party if pushed to a vote. Today we are seeking to amend the Bill to ban the live exports of alpacas, llamas and deer, and to ensure that species can be added to the legislation at a later date. It is about future-proofing the legislation and making it fit for purpose. Amendment 5 is important.

I noted today a very interesting piece in The Telegraph, of which I know the Minister is an avid reader, talking about constituency-led multi-level regression and post-stratification polling carried out in September 2023. It found that more than two thirds of the British public feel that a political party that announced plans to pass more laws designed to improve animal welfare and protect animals from cruelty would have the right priorities. I hope that the Minister will accept our amendments, or, if not, be as detailed as possible in explaining his excuses. The people of this country are crying out for change and for a Government with the right priorities. If the Tories cannot deliver that, they should get out of the way, because we can.

Storm Henk

Keir Mather Excerpts

Monday 8th January 2024 Commons Chamber

[Robbie Moore]

I thank my hon. Friend for contacting me over the Christmas period to raise the ongoing concerns in her constituency, not only from Storm Henk, but from the repeated rainfall we have had. I will look at and review all the flooded areas over and above the eight county council areas that have already been announced to make sure that we are reviewing any data. I want to ensure that we are getting data in good time so that no one—businesses, householders and farmers—is missing out on funds because sufficient data is not being provided.

[Keir Mather (Selby and Ainsty) (Lab)]

Brayton, Tadcaster and Chapel Haddlesey in my constituency have all faced awful flooding in recent weeks. Residents were left in the lurch as agencies would not take responsibility, and the fire service and local businesses, such as Campeys and UK Sandbags, have had to fill the gaps. Will the Minister consider at least the efficacy of implementing a flood resilience taskforce at some point in the future so that we can deal more pre-emptively with these flood events when they do occur, through such measures as clearing blocked drains, to give my constituents the reassurance they so desperately need?

[Robbie Moore]

I want to reassure the hon. Gentleman that we are already doing that. The Government are working closely with our Environment Agency colleagues, the local authorities and our flood resilience forums to ensure that we are doing exactly what he is asking for. The request is somewhat unnecessary because we are already doing it.

Rural Communities: Government Support

Keir Mather Excerpts

Tuesday 28th November 2023 Westminster Hall

[Dr Coffey]

That is a good point. I do not know enough about the detail of what the hon. Lady suggests, but I know there are two sets of providers because they already share connection masts, but I appreciate that is not totally comprehensive.

I want to say a bit more about the importance of farming to our countryside and in our rural communities. Over the past year, I have made a lot of effort to try to ensure that that is recognised and that farmers are seen as the custodians of the countryside. Perhaps that speech will have to wait for another time, given the variety of issues that rural affairs covers, as the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome set out extensively.

One of the things that will continue to be of interest to me is school transport. My hon. Friend the Member for West Dorset (Chris Loder) has a debate tomorrow on funding for rural councils. There is no doubt that young people miss some opportunities because they cannot necessarily get to their college, which is a long distance away. More broadly, hon. Members who represent urban constituencies may not understand that children leave home very early in the morning, have quite long days--although those days seem to get shorter—and often may miss out on the regular opportunities that others have for sports, debate and similar.

[Keir Mather (Selby and Ainsty) (Lab)]

Will the right hon. Member give way?

[Dr Coffey]

I am afraid that I just do not have the time, but I am sure the hon. Member will be making a speech soon.

[Dr Coffey]

Then I will take the intervention.

[Keir Mather]

The right hon. Lady is extremely kind for giving way, and I apologise for missing the opening remarks by the hon. Member for Somerton and Frome (Sarah Dyke). I want to build on the point about transport, because there are massive issues in my constituency for transport for children with special educational needs. Children have to go from Selby up to Harrogate or Scarborough to receive the education they need. Does the right hon. Lady agree that we need more funding and investment to transport those children who need that extra help in a way that better respects the fact that they are getting up very early in the morning and not enjoying school in the way that other young people are able to?

[Dr Coffey]

I understand what the hon. Gentleman says. The situation varies around the country, but I know it is a challenge that councils have. We could actually have an all-day debate in the Chamber or in here to discuss the plethora of issues covered by the brief held by the Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, my hon. Friend the Member for Keighley (Robbie Moore), whom I welcome to his well-deserved ministerial role. Being from a rural Yorkshire constituency, he will know a lot of the challenges that are faced, but he will also know of the opportunities and what a special place it is.

In terms of Government support, we need to keep that funding going for post offices, and we need ongoing investment in rural access programmes, whether that is for health or the internet. I commend the Government for the progress they have made. Of course, I would say that because a couple of weeks ago I was in charge of the Department doing it, but I assure the House that there is a genuine passion there. We need to ensure that the rural proofing that operates right across Government is still done and gets the scrutiny it deserves.

--- Later in debate ---

[Ashley Dalton]

I absolutely agree with the hon. Member. The big question is how the Government can possibly expect to address those issues when we see no sign of their recognising them.

The challenges in rural educational provision differ from the provision of SEND in urban areas. In spread-out communities, often with non-existent public transport, it is far more difficult for SEND children to access those services. Thirty children in an urban area with a small geographical footprint and a bus every 20 minutes find it much easier than do 30 children spread over a vast geographical footprint with no public transport.

Flooding also brings challenges particular to rural areas. Of course, such challenges can occur in any part of the country—they are not unique to rural areas—but some of the issues are wide-ranging. The farmers of West Lancashire are proud to be the growers and feeders of our nation, but when their fields are flooded and their produce is written off, it does not just impact farmers and their incomes; it reduces the availability of food in our shops and it drives up prices, hitting consumers in the pocket all over the country. How can the Government support the growers and food providers of West Lancashire when they do not even have a recognised definition of flooding, and no one is recording how many floods take place each year?

[Keir Mather]

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way. Does she agree that although this is an important issue, a lot of the debate on flood risk in this country centres on the number of chimney pots—houses—that will be affected rather than on the high-quality arable land that our farmers use to feed the nation in the way that she suggests?

[Ashley Dalton]

I agree with that. Talking to farmers in my community is fascinating: they cannot understand why the Environment Agency attaches a value of zero to farmland when it measures the impact of flood defences. We really need to talk about that, because without protecting that agricultural land, we are damaging not only the economics of our food providers but access to food and food sustainability across the whole country.

It is not just farmland that is affected. Flooding on roads is a major inconvenience for people in urban communities, but it brings communities like mine to a standstill. In Skelmersdale, we have been without a train station for 65 years, despite the Government supposedly freeing up £36 billion for transport projects through the cancellation of the northern leg of High Speed 2. The Rail Minister has told me in writing that it is not possible to connect Skem to the rail network, because money has already been committed to other projects, a number of which are either recycled announcements or already operational. Projects such as a station for Skem do not only support our rural communities; they unlock the potential within them. It is difficult for me to go back to my constituency and tell residents on their doorstep that the Government are supporting rural communities, when time and time again, people in West Lancashire tell me that they do not feel they are being heard.

The theme running through all these issues is that the Government simply do not understand the needs of rural communities. It is time that the people of West Lancashire had a Government who are on their side and support them by meeting the ambition out there with a bold and ambitious strategy in this place that recognises the specific needs of rural areas, but for now I fear that such a strategy is sadly lacking.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tim Farron]

I am extremely grateful to my right hon. Friend for making that point; he is absolutely right. The Groceries Code Adjudicator has the capacity to potentially make a big difference for farmers and growers—producers of all kinds. But the reality is that it does not have the sanctions and remit. It is not allowed to take third-party referrals from the likes of us or the NFU on behalf of farmers who are being stitched up by processors or retailers. It is absolutely right that the Government support farming, but the market should be fixed so it does not exploit our farmers either.

We already have a situation where we are only 58% self-sufficient in farming in this country. We are never going to deliver the environmental goods we need if we do not have those expert hands on the land delivering those environmental policies. Our landscapes are at risk of changing radically, dramatically and negatively to undermine—for example—the £3.5 billion-a-year tourism economy of the English Lake district.

Moving on to broadband, Project Gigabit is a good idea, but there will be many people who miss out. Thousands of homes in my part of Cumbria are outside the scope, or in deferred scope, of Project Gigabit. B4RN—the Minister may be aware of it—or Broadband for the Rural North is an excellent local community interest company. It could absolutely connect all of those homes in—I am going to mention them now—parts of Sedbergh, Kaber, Murton, Long Marton, Winton, Warcop, Ormside, Hilton, Hartley and Bleatarn.

I mention those places because, if the broadband voucher system were still available, they could be connected now through B4RN, if it was not for the fact that Project Gigabit is trying to only ride one horse, and is not prepared to accept that not every issue has to be dealt with in the same way—one size does not fit all. I ask the Minister to look specifically at those communities and consider restoring the vouchers to them so that they can be connected well and connected now.

I want to briefly move on to buses. The right hon. Member for Suffolk Coastal (Dr Coffey) rightly points out the importance and value of the £2 bus fare, which I think has increased footfall or “busfall” by about 10%—it certainly has in my community. The £2 bus fare does a fat load of good if there is no bus. I want this Government to give local authorities like mine the power to run their own bus companies and the funding to ensure that they work. Buses often do not make a profit, but they are the oil that ensures that the economy works in communities to keep people connected and to ensure that people can get to work and school, or make use of leisure facilities. Back our buses.

[Keir Mather]

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

[Sir Charles Walker (in the Chair)]

If the hon. Gentleman gives way, he will squeeze the time available to the mover of the debate to wind up.

Storm Babet: Flooding

Keir Mather Excerpts

Monday 23rd October 2023 Commons Chamber

[Rebecca Pow]

Building and development has been considered, working with DLUHC, in our holistic plan for water. It is why we so urgently need sustainable urban drainage, for example, in our new developments and to get that switched on. It is being reviewed and hopefully that will start to happen, because it will make such a difference in trapping and capturing water, as do schemes such as grey water harvesting, semi-permeable driveways and so on. I urge planning departments to consider them, because they will make such a difference in areas such as my hon. Friend’s.

[Keir Mather (Selby and Ainsty) (Lab)]

Flooding devastates communities across Selby and Ainsty. Residents are caused enormous anxiety and panic when events like Storm Babet occur. Will the Minister outline what steps she is taking to work with the Environment Agency regionally in Yorkshire to ensure that towns like Tadcaster are safe from flooding in future?

[Rebecca Pow]

I can give the hon. Gentleman an absolute assurance that we are working very closely with the regional Environment Agencies. In fact, they come to the fore in incidents like this and we are in constant communication with them. They feed into plans for flood management and water resources. It should be a cohesive programme, working together. That is also why, as I mentioned earlier, working in catchments is so important.