𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Labour has ignited anger in the countryside after failing to include farming and food production on a list of industries critical to national security. Farming is missing from the selection of sectors the Cabinet Office says “matter most to national security – steel, shipbuilding, energy infrastructure and AI”. Efforts are underway to support these industries through the £400million of taxpayers’ money spent each year on Government contracts.

Gareth Wyn Jones, a hill farmer from North Wales, said: “If the country can’t feed itself, it won’t matter how many AI bots we have to play with. Farming is always the first to suffer when there’s conflict abroad, and we need a Government that protects our livelihoods so we can keep putting food on the nation’s tables.”

The Countryside Alliance’s David Bean warned that you “can’t eat” steel, crucial though it is.

He said: “The Government is constantly telling us it recognises that food security is national security. When it consulted last year on changes to procurement rules to support businesses, [we] argued that this was the perfect time to put its words into action. It’s deeply disappointing to find it has missed that opportunity. Steel, ships, energy and AI are vital too – but we can’t eat them. In troubled times, that is what matters most.”

The Labour manifesto contained a pledge to “set a target for half of all food purchased across the public sector to be locally produced or certified to higher environmental standards”. But the Countryside Alliance warned last year that “only 12% of local authorities and two central Government departments even monitored the origins of their procured food”.

It described the absence of food and farming from the list of vital industries as “glaring”.

Shadow environment minister Robbie Moore hiked up the pressure on Labour, saying: “It is obvious that the Government does not value our farmers, food producers or rural communities. At a time of growing global uncertainty, our ability to be self-sufficient should be a central pillar of national resilience.

“Instead, Labour continues to make it much more financially challenging for our farmers through dramatically reducing delinked payments, creating huge uncertainty with the Sustainable Farming Incentive, introducing the fertiliser tax, a double cab pickup tax, and the family farm and business tax – failing to back British producers where it matters most.”

A Government spokesperson said: “We’re investing a record £11.8billion in sustainable farming and food production over this parliament, helping British farmers scale technology, increase yields, and develop climate-resilient crops. Our new social value goals will benefit British businesses, including food producers, by encouraging bidders to deliver social, economic, and environmental benefits across the country.”