The big issues

BUY BRITISH? IF ONLY WE COULD!!!

Since Labour came to power, thousands of acres where crops once grew are no longer used for cereal, fruit and vegetables.

Livestock farmers have also witnessed a big reduction in the sizes of beef, dairy and pig herds, with sheep flocks also in decline.

With a global food crisis looming, the Government is calling for an agricultural revolution to secure “healthy, affordable food” for the future.

But Conservative researchers have discovered that Britain’s ability to feed itself with home-grown produce has declined dramatically since 1997. Their findings show our self-sufficiency in home-grown food has been reduced by nine per cent, from 82 per cent in 1998 to 73 per cent in 2008.

Shadow Environment Secretary Nick Herbert said last night: “The Government claimed it was unnecessary to increase domestic food production and, under Labour, Britain has become increasingly dependent on imports of food we could grow ourselves.

“It should be a ­strategic priority to increase self-sufficiency in food, yet the Government is refusing to take the steps to make this happen.

“It has increased the regulatory burden on farmers, continued to ignore British producers and procure foreign food and refused to introduce labelling to help support domestic production.” Last month Environment Secretary Hilary Benn published Britain’s first food security assessment, saying the country needed to consider what the food system should look like in 20 years. His statement drew strong criticism from farmers’ leaders.

Tom Hind, the National Farmers’ Union head of economic and inter­national affairs, said: “There is still a culture within Government that believes the best way to achieve domestic food security is through having as many sources of supply as possible. We believe this is naive. We might not aspire to self-sufficiency but it’s ­reasonable to think that British agriculture should produce as much as it can for our home market.”

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