Political opinion: Staffordshire MP completes year-long NFU farm scheme
Josh Newbury, the Labour MP for Cannock Chase, has successfully ‘graduated’ from a National Farmers’ Union scheme for Members of Parliament and has vowed to continue to champion farmers in Westminster. The ‘Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme’ began in October 2024 with a cohort of 20 MPs from the three main parties in Parliament, including Josh, and finished this month.
Over a 12-month period, MPs had the chance to visit an egg farm in Shropshire, a dairy farm and milk processing factory in Buckinghamshire, a beef farm in Staffordshire, an arable farm in Suffolk, a horticulture farm in Sussex and a FareShare food redistribution warehouse on Merseyside. The Scheme aims to give MPs exposure to various parts of the food and farming sector to inform their work in Westminster.
Josh Newbury MP said: "As a member of Parliament's Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee and the chair of a cross-party group on UK food security, farming and food production across our nation are very close to my heart. It has been an honour to be one of the first group of MPs taking part in the NFU's Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme over the last year.
"As an MP representing a fairly urban constituency, it has been a privilege to sit down with farmers from my own community, and the NFU's scheme has given me the chance to speak to big players in the world of farming like ABP, Arla and Barfoots who supply large amounts of the beef, dairy products and sweetcorn that we see on our supermarket shelves. I have been struck by the varying strengths and difficulties facing the different parts of our farming sector, but also many of the common challenges they share, on everything from extreme weather to tax policy and international trade. All of the conversations I've had have fed into the work I am doing in Westminster, whether that be speaking in debates, our cross-party group on food security or on the Select Committee."
Josh was commended by the NFU for being the only MP to attend all six of the visits as part of the Food and Farming Fellowship Scheme. Josh is now promoting the scheme to his fellow politicians as the NFU prepares to resume it with a fresh cohort of MPs.
Josh added: "For me, these six visits were not just about going on some interesting visits to farms. They were about engaging with people working directly in farming about all of the issues we are discussing in Westminster week in, week out. I have been about to speak about issues including keeping deadly animal diseases out of our country and the impact of proposed changes to inheritance tax armed with real-world perspectives. This is the kind of opportunity that is invaluable to have as an MP.
"We know that farmers, and the wider supply chains and communities that they underpin, have been having a tough time for many years now. An extremely wet winter followed by an extremely dry winter have caused havoc for crops and livestock alike. Barriers to international trade have caused headaches for farmers who export produce or import things like machinery. And the reduction in inheritance tax relief announced at last year's budget has been a dark cloud that has hung over the farming world, depressing confidence and choking off investment that farmers want to make.
"These are huge challenges, and it is never easy to criticise your own side when you think they are going wrong, but alongside many other Labour MPs who are passionate about the vital role our farmers play and about backing rural Britain, I will continue to push for common sense alternatives where necessary, and for the certainty that farmers need to invest and succeed for generations to come."
