Rural communities 'in my DNA' and important to Labour, Starmer tells farmers

Sir Keir Starmer has told UK farmers that rural communities are 'in his DNA', aiming to sway traditionally conservative voters with a promise to 'rule the whole of the UK ", not just urban centres.

"I grew up in a rural community, on the borders of Surrey and Kent, I lived in a rural community, it is deeply embedded in my DNA,” he told the National Farmers' Union (NFU) conference in Birmingham on Tuesday. for about 50p” when he was 14. Starmer later added, "I aspire to rule the whole of the UK, and that also means our rural communities. In fact, I grew up in a rural community and it's deep, deep in my bones. was talking. Farmer Sarah Bell said in a tweet that Starmer "delivers a lot of positive feelings about the industry" and added, "It's a leap of faith for the politically homeless."

George Dunn, Chief Executive of the Tenant Farmers Association, said: 'Sir Keir delivered a compelling and cohesive speech, which covered all the key areas which, if taken up within a government, would make a huge difference in delivering our food and environmental security. It was particularly encouraging that he chose the tenant sector as a priority.

Richard Griffiths, the managing director of British Poultry, added: respect and shared values, and that the Labor Party is the party that helps UK farmers achieve sustainable production that feeds people. "It's easy to be everything to everybody when you're in opposition. We need meaningful policies now, to support all of this. to address the annual rally in 2021.

Starmer promised a better trade relationship with the EU for farmers under work, more police to tackle rural crime and more mental health workers, but stopped short of promises spending on farm support payments, which now stands at £2.4bn a year.

It also still has a way to go to win over environmental experts. Shaun Spiers, executive director of the Green Alliance, said: "It was a good speech on agriculture and food resilience. Now we need Sir Keir to turn his attention to the crisis of the nature and the role that agriculture will play in restoring the health of our natural world. The UK will not begin to reverse nature's catastrophic decline unless farmers are properly funded and supported through the transition to a sustainable system. "

Agriculture Minister Mark Spencer told reporters at the conference he was hopeful that a trade deal would soon be reached with Mexico, which would likely require beef imports. But farmers and environmental activists have raised concerns that Mexican beef has a higher footprint than British meat, as many ranches are on deforested land.

The drummers told the Guardian: "I'm very concerned about the links to deforestation. From Mexico our lines are quite harsh in this regard, having given so much beef to Australia and New Zealand. We want the government to take a very, very firm line on new beef imports for dairy herds and improvements to manure management, but farmers said the money was not new, but recycled to from the underspending of other parts of the farm budget, such as environmental improvements.

Martin Lines, the president of the Nature Friendly Farming Network, said: “It doesn't look like fresh money. st a welcome investment that can help farmers invest in better productivity, but if they use the pot under the pot of the BPS [basic payment scheme, the current support for farmers], there will be less money to provide for environmental products. What is wrong...