At First Minister’s Questions today, the opposition Leader Darren Millar MS challenged the First Minister on Labour’s updated Sustainable Farming Scheme. Mr. Millar accused the Labour Government of turning its back on Welsh farmers, after it emerged that food security is not mentioned once in the latest Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) document. Additionally, the core elements of the scheme remain largely unchanged. The universal payments are the same as the existing Basic Payment Scheme, meaning a real term cut for farmers and the tree-planting requirement still leaves the door wide open for Labour to introduce their deeply unpopular 10% tree cover target on every farm.
Commenting, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, Darren Millar MS said:
“This Labour Government does not give a hoot about food security, the term doesn’t appear once in the latest Sustainable Farming Scheme document. Yet, the word ‘environment’ is mentioned 79 times, which tells you everything you need to know about Labour’s priorities.
“Under Labour’s plans, Welsh farmers will be forced to sacrifice an area half the size of the Vale of Glamorgan to tree planting, while the UK Climate Change Committee recommends a 19% cut in livestock numbers, something we reject entirely.
“For every £1 invested in farming, £9 is returned to the Welsh economy, yet Labour is freezing the £238m farming budget with no uplift, which is a real terms cut. Labour is sacrificing Welsh livelihoods and food security.”
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