Questions to Secretary of State Steve Reed - EFRA Select Committee

This morning in the Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs Select Committee (EFRA), I questioned the Secretary of State at Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), Steve Reed MP, on the importance of securing a strong and sustainable future for British farming.

Farmers need to see fair returns for the food they produce, and that means looking carefully at the role supermarkets play in the supply chain. I don't think farmers get a fair deal from Supermarkets, and its something that I'm continuing to push.

I also want to see us back a "Buying British" campaign - its vital that we back our farmers and producers. Yesterday's trading deal with the EU is a great first step to increasing trade for farmers, but there is more to do to back our farmers and producers at home. We have such incredible produce - in Suffolk Coastal and beyond, and I'm keen that we promote it 'till the cows come home.

I also raised the importance of ensuring that energy infrastructure works with, not against, our ability to farm. That includes setting a minimum depth of 1.8 metres for underground cabling, so that land can continue to be used productively for agriculture. If we’re going to meet both our energy and food security goals, we can’t afford to compromise one for the other.