You also hear talk of having higher standards here, so being above the EU. So, that was really compelling. That isnt going to happen overnight, because weve actively pushed people away from doing those jobs. What I did feel, and what I do feel, is enormous weight of responsibility to get this right. NFU President Minette Batters tells us why it's so important to Weve got to make sure that we build what I would call bridges to more mechanisation, more automation. But our strawberries, our raspberries, our asparagus, our blueberries, are reliant on the dexterity of the human hand. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. That was the challenge. I think Defra has very strong views on all of this, I know George Eustice does. Weve got to be able to look at, actually, how we enable these growers to have access to the workforce that they need. So, influencing is going to be important. Youve got Lord Frost leading on the future of the UK new relationship. Minette met her husband Alec Walters while she was at Durham and they married in 1978. WebMinette met her husband Alec Walters while she was at Durham and they married in 1978. I think they were clearly split though. Real life consequences But he was reshuffled when Boris Johnson came in. Exports are down though, with specialist cheesemakers and products such as fresh cream taking a massive hit. Are they worried about this unfairness to British producers? UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE): Michael Gove was a relatively long-serving Defra Secretary of State, by Defra standards. It launched some plans for new tariffs, which were quite interesting, and it also made clear that it was prioritising regulatory autonomy, sovereignty, over removing friction. UKICE: How did you think the Department was coping? MB: Well, Brexit wont be felt until its happened, but the impact hasnt happened yet. We convened our council, our sovereign body, again, at a special meeting in London. Weve got significant issues with the absence of border control posts on the north European coast which means that we effectively cant move any farm animals from GB to mainland EU. Australia is the sort of precedent FTA because that will be the first one, potentially, that is concluded. Covid-19 has probably really shone a light on our diets, that a lot of them are not good diets, and we all need to have more fruit and veg in them. And the decision was taken, by NFU Council, the sovereign body of the NFU, that on the information available it was in British agricultures best economic interest to remain. The romantic novelettes were written in approximately two weeks and published under a pseudonym that remains a secret. We can, as a source of emissions and a sink, go carbon-neutral, we can get to net zero. I cant speak for the Ulster Farmers Union. Youve got all the challenges with Stranraer and other places about access points. With Theresa May, it was about trying to say, Were here, dont forget agriculture, because its going to be the complex area. In fact, the solid line from the NFU had been that we wanted to maintain our high standards of animal welfare. And of course, we still had the Wageningen work, which proved to be pivotal in having those discussions, and the principles. I had a call the other day, with COPA-COGECA, listening to the Commission and DG SANTE. She supplemented her salary by writing romantic novelettes, short stories, and serials in her spare time. Retail is now very loyal to British sourcing, so were seeing good prices across a range of agricultural products. It was never going to be, for them, the same as remaining part of the single market. Co founder, Ladies in Beef and GBBW. Her second novel, The Sculptress, which was inspired in part by an encounter Walters had as a volunteer prison visitor, won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. Again, it was the engagement with Number 10 that got the global seasonal scheme of 30,000 over the line. I think there was an element of relief that it wasnt necessary to re-inform someone who came in totally new. We then used the NFU Council, to identify the key issues, we brought together an options paper, and we looked at bringing together a whole host of task and finish groups. WebBrowse 72 minette batters photos and images available, or start a new search to explore more photos and images. I remember going to bed on referendum night and texting our Director of Strategy, Martin Howarth, who has been with the NFU a long time, and was in our London Office. I asked what he thought as the Votes were just starting to come in then, and I think a lot of people were in the same position as me. What was not to like? We established that body, because we realised this was going to be massive, it was going to mean change, and we would have to think and operate differently, in order to satisfy our members needs for knowledge on all of this. The contestants were Brendan Cole, Sherrie Hewson, Kelvin MacKenzie, Matt Allwright, Angela Griffin and Diarmuid Gavin. So, from our point of view, it was important to have bilaterals with our opposite numbers and allow them to lobby their governments on what was needed. What difference did it make to you in engaging with the Government when Michael Gove, on rehabilitation into the Cabinet, took over from Andrea Leadsom, and started to make a lot of noise about what post-Brexit policy might look like? I think, again, we need to be looking at producing more here. Thats what I remember most, nobody saying anything. That is a breaking of the manifesto commitment. Or did you, at that stage, think, This is so catastrophic, its just not going to happen? My meeting with the Prime Minister in October last year, 2020, was absolutely pivotal in getting the Trade and Agriculture Commission over the line. Were still developing the thinking, still influencing, and with the academics and the science community working with us, we are making huge progress. They have two sons, Roland and Philip. I think there was a sort of realisation then that, actually, they hadnt got this quite right, and they needed to be talking about farmers, about food production. So a no deal meant that we would be dealing with the EU the same way as we would be dealing with the rest of the world in the absence of any trade deals. Were still going to need a workforce. Of course, getting your voice heard in all of this was quite a challenge, I think, for the goods sector. Set in the 17th century, it explores the division and devastation of the English Civil War. Apr 13 2023. What was your expectation about how the Government would involve farming representatives in the development of their position on Brexit, going forward? Her first full-length crime novel, The Ice House, was published in 1992. It took two and a half years to write and was rejected by numerous publishing houses until Maria Rejt, Macmillan Publishers, bought it for 1250. I think we were quite at arms length, I would say, from influencing the European thinking. MB: I dont think we should underestimate the challenge you refer to of, not only piloting policy, but piloting delivery. Her novels are often set against real backgrounds and real events to draw her readers into the 'reality' of what she is writing about. WebMinette met her husband Alec Walters while she was at Durham and they married in 1978. You know, vote for this, because it will be cheaper. I guess we needed to be able to get our point of view across, recognising that it didnt necessarily fit that well with the mantra of Brexit is great, because its about cheaper food, cheaper clothes, which had been the mantra. UKICE: We saw the very hostile reaction from EU political leaders to Chequers, but I wondered whether you got any sense from your sister bodies in France, Denmark, Netherlands, places that were concerned about UK lowering standards and the implications for that on agri-food farming, that they thought Chequers was quite a clever wheeze? UKICE: But they still prioritised doing deals with the US, though maybe receded slightly. We havent prioritised different skill sets of job opportunity in the UK. Minette Batters could not have chosen a more difficult time to become the first female president of the National Farmers Union (NFU). There have been challenges. To get to wholesale ways of trading, whereby you have one truck full of one thing, is going to be easier to resolve. At the end of the day, this will land on the Prime Ministers desk as to which way he wants to go. And what I learnt quite early on, and has subsequently become a key element of NFU work, was that if you have a problem, work up the solution. Initially she was an amateur jockey and assistant trainer to David Elsworth and James Toller. On 37 March 2008, BBC2 aired Murder Most Famous,[4] a five-part TV talent contest series, in which Walters tutors and judges six competing celebrity writers, with the winner having his or her crime fiction novel published by Pan Macmillan on World Book Day 2009. So, that was the conversation, literally, with Theresa May she hadnt realised how complex SPS was. For some sectors, if you take upland livestock, youre looking at an 80% drop in farm business income, which is enormous. And now, within the Agricultural Act of 2020, the Secretary of State for Defra has access to a multi-annual plan. Were you at all engaged in the discussions there, or were you very surprised when the Government suddenly unveiled that as its preferred approach? Lovely to listen while running through Oxfordshire farms. Weve always maintained that, in the UK, we dont want to lower standards, but there has always been a concern as to what imports and the future of international trade will look like. She supplemented her salary by writing romantic novelettes, short stories, and serials in her spare time. Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. But it was always going to need a bespoke model. Or did they think it was just a completely unacceptable attempt to cherry-pick the single market? UKICE: Did you get a sense that government actually appreciated the lengths of those lead times in farming? Do not just go to government with X, Y and Z as a problem. So, we supported Chequers, as, interestingly, did Michael Gove. Her themes include isolation, family dysfunction, rejection, marginalisation, justice and revenge. And Chequers definitely gave way to those conversations happening in a constructive manner, without doubt. Helped by her husband Edwin and son George, Jilly manages 600 acres on the River Exe floodplain, raising native breeds like South Devons and Red Polls. We knew it would be a lose-lose to try and lobby, effectively, for a race to the bottom. So, the Government has got to stick to its word on this. You didnt know what your workforce was going to look like, you didnt know what the future policy was going to look like. 21 February 2023 Minette Batters: Food cannot be the poor relation to the environment Minette Batters, head of the National Farmers Union (NFU), doubles down on food security in the face of green farm subsidy reforms. So, once youd gone by those, you were into a no deal scenario by default. Release Calendar Top 250 Movies Most She turned freelance in 1977 but continued to write for magazines to cover her bills. WebMinette Batters NFU President Minette runs a tenanted family farm in Wiltshire. Ive met with the Australian negotiating team, and they are absolutely determined that they should have free access on beef and sheep. From my point of view, I wanted to keep the market, the business, alive, bearing in mind that these are perishable products that we are dealing with. To undermine our farmers, when you want them to have regulation that costs a lot of money, and undermine them with cheap products coming in that dont even meet the first rung of the ladder, was going to do one thing, and that was going to put our farmers out of business. Will either one? As the May Government was starting to develop its vision of its Brexit, we had ministers, not least Liam Fox, talking about doing trade deals with the US, and the big summer 2017 bust-up over chlorinated chicken. All rights reserved. Theyve been long-term involved in the impact assessment for these trade deals, so they know what is needed. I suppose you can say that, in the end, the voice was heard, even if it took three botched attempts to avoid it.
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