Prime Minister comes to Barnstaple

Prime minister Rishi Sunak and foreign secretary Lord Cameron have been in North Devon to rally support from the farming community for the Conservative election campaign.

Standing on a stage made of hay at a farm near Barnstaple, Mr Sunak took part in a Q and A session with livestock and arable farmers.

They were there to give Tory candidate Selaine Saxby a boost. She is defending a majority of 15,000 achieved in the 2019 election, where she attracted 57 per cent of the vote.

ABOVE: Selaine Saxby.  Image courtesy: Alison Stephenson, Radio Exe

But recent data from pollsters Electoral Calculus suggests the Lib Dems could reclaim the seat, which has a long heritage of liberalism and was the constituency of former Liberal leader Jeremy Thorpe.

In their manifestos, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats both promise an increase in the agriculture budget of £1 billion.

Former prime minister Lord Cameron told the farmers the Conservatives had produced their “fullest and most complete” manifesto on farming, agriculture and the countryside he had seen.

ABOVE: Lord David Cameron on the hay stage at a farm in Barnstaple. Image courtesy: Alison Stephenson, Radio Exe

In contrast Labour had included ”just 87 words” on farming, he said.

Mr Sunak said it had been a “real privilege” to understand the contribution that farmers made to society after growing up in Southampton.

He had represented Richmond in Yorkshire for nine years as an MP which he says is a farming area like North Devon.

He said his government was focused on food production and food security.

“We only grow something like 16 per cent of our fruit in this country and 46 per cent of our veg. We need to do a better job of that.

“We need to make sure you get a fair price for your products… and we have changed our approach to trade deals to make sure you are not undercut because what you produce is the highest quality of anywhere in the world.

“We will continue to support you with everything and anything you need.”

The prime minister said it had been a difficult few months with one of the wettest winters on record, and Selaine Saxby and other colleagues were “encouraging us to expand our farming recovery funds to expand grants up to £25,000 for farmers affected by flooding.”

Farmers said that the planning process and red tape holds up farm development and environmental plans and that lobbyists and even Natural England cause unnecessary conflict and confusion between farming and the environment.

Brian Griffiths said everybody wanted good food production, sustainability and a protected and enhanced environment, and it didn’t need to be complicated, but the government must work with farmers on policy rather than groups “with their own agendas”.

Mr Sunak agreed that farming policy had been “hijacked” in the past. He claimed changes meant farmers no longer had to jump through hoops to convert farm buildings for business ventures or get solar power schemes on barns and roofs.

His party is committed to continuing the badger cull which he said had brought down cases of TB in cattle by 56 per cent in the last year.

“I see at first hand the devastation that TB can cause. Outbreaks this past year are the lowest they have been in 20 years.

“There is no country I know of that has eliminated TB in cattle without eliminating it in badgers or other wildlife which is why culls are important.

“We are the only party in this election that can give you that assurance.”

Selaine Saxby said the Conservatives had delivered for farmers and would continue to do so.

“We have a plan, we don’t need to go back to square one. Our policies on agriculture and the environment are world leading. It is important we continue to build on that.”