Farming and Food Security

Mike Reader Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Mike Reader (Northampton South) (Lab)]

May I start by paying my respects to the resident who died in my constituency during the recent floods? I am sure that the thoughts of the whole House are with her family. I thank the Secretary of State for leaving the Labour conference early to visit Northamptonshire and ensure that we had the support that we needed. Over 1,000 Northampton South residents were evacuated from their homes.

I thank the hon. Member for Sutton and Cheam (Luke Taylor). I send my commiserations to his father on his election losses, but I am sure that he is very proud to see his son sitting on these green Benches.

Unfortunately, I cannot support the Opposition’s motion. I believe that we should support all possible funding opportunities for our farmers, but the motion seeks to commit the Government to underfunded—and in some cases imaginary—policies proposed in May 2024 by the previous Prime Minister. Those policies have contributed to the £22-billion black hole that the Labour party has inherited. They were political gestures and not a real offer to the UK farming community. People saw through that: 61% of people told Farmers Weekly that they trusted a Labour Government, whereas only 6% trusted the Conservatives.

[Louise Jones (North East Derbyshire) (Lab)]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the fact that so many Labour MPs have a farming background, as I do, and that so many rural seats are represented by Labour, makes it clear that we are now the true champions of our farming community?

[Mike Reader]

It is very clear that Labour is on the side of our farming and agricultural sector. I stand here as the hopeful chair of the all-party parliamentary group for food. I am sure that those who are concerned about food security will join us at our inaugural general meeting very shortly. I am also a member of the NFU’s food and farming fellowship. It is clear that Labour Members take this issue seriously, and we are dedicating time to ensure that, unlike the previous Government, we work with farmers, not against them.

We are also working across industry. The motion focuses solely on farming, but in order to deliver food security, there must be a cross-sector approach, as I am sure everyone in the House recognises. The approach should include food manufacturing, logistics, retail and the hospitality chain. The whole agrifood ecosystem delivers a gross value added of £147 billion to our economy, including £15 billion through our farming sector, and a whopping £70 billion through our manufacturing, distribution and wholesale sector in food and retail. We want to improve food security in the UK, which is already classified as “broadly stable” by DEFRA.

[Andrew Pakes (Peterborough) (Lab)]

On the issue of stability, I remind my hon. Friend of the opening lines of Labour’s 2010 food and farming strategy:

“We can’t carry on just as we are.”

Farmers I have met in my constituency would make exactly the same claim now, given the record of the last Conservative Government, who scrapped Labour’s food plan in 2010. Does he agree that if we are to invest in food and farming, and to bring jobs and prosperity to rural and urban constituencies, we must back Labour’s new deal for farmers, invest in food and farming jobs, and put a real plan for food security back on the table?

[Mike Reader]

I could not agree more, and could not have said it better myself. However, a holistic approach must be taken across the whole ecosystem to subsidies, funding and investment.

One reason why I chose to speak today is that food security is important to me and my constituents. A recent study found that nearly 10% of people in Northampton struggle to access food, and that gets worse in rural Northamptonshire, as I am sure my constituency neighbour, the hon. Member for South Northamptonshire (Sarah Bool), recognises. Northamptonshire Action with Communities in Rural England found that 45% of residents in rural Northamptonshire worried about food prices, and in 22% of families with children, adults missed meals in order to feed their kids. That is simply not good enough.

I commend the Opposition for supporting the Government’s efforts to improve food security, but the motion is not the way to do that. We must work together, collaboratively and across parties, to support the agrifood industry, and I hope that the Opposition will endeavour to do so after their motion is defeated.