Nick Clegg joined David Cameron in bashing the government for its attitude towards British farmers, at the NFU centenary conference, in London yesterday.
He pointed to “an unbelievable series of calamities” and echoed Cameron’s view that the Labour Party is out of touch with rural Britain. “They just don’t seem to get the countryside,” said Clegg, congratulating the industry on its staying power “when the government seems to go out of its way to make things harder for you”.
“Farming is part of the lifeblood of Britain,” he told delegates. “Your staying power is truly impressive - your determination to stay working the land in the face of such adversity.
“My ambition is to make things easier. Not by returning to unsustainable production subsidies, or closing the doors against all international trade.
“But by setting a fair framework, supporting your stewardship of the land, and then getting out of the way so you can get on with the business of growing and rearing our food.
“Farming is close to my heart, and to my party’s. More than half of Liberal Democrat MPs represent rural seats, where farming is part of daily life. We’re on your side.”
Clegg pledged to take climate change seriously. “I know it’s hard to plan for and invest in the future when you can’t tell if your farm will even break even from one year to the next,” he said. “So the government must help, and support you as you adapt. And as you work to reduce some of the damaging effects farming can have.
“With seven per cent of Britain’s greenhouse gases coming from farming, we cannot postpone dealing with the problem.
“I know you don’t want to be glorified park wardens, but you can and should be stewards of the land even as you farm it. Britain has a spectacular landscape, much of it shaped by you and your ancestors through generations of hard work.
“Let’s protect it, together,” he said.
“The government must remember that its grand strategy to protect our natural world is nothing without [farmers]. Without a strong farming sector, the strategy will just remain a piece of paper in a file in Whitehall.”
He picked on the recent downgrading of the Seasonal Agricultural Workers’ Scheme as an example of government neglect of growers. “[This has] caused huge problems for growers across the country,” Clegg said. “The government believes there is no need for any low-skill migration - even temporary - from outside the EU. Growers know better. We cannot have another season where crops rot in the fields.
“The government must act to make sure British needs for seasonal workers are met, or we will just provide a new marketplace for people-trafficking and illegal working.”