Minette Batters: Jeremy Clarkson is good for farmers, but Boris So, I think, then, there were some very tough conversations. Minette Batters (MB): It was interesting, wasnt it, when Theresa May came in? Then weve got political issues, like seed potatoes- there is no reason why seed potatoes should be blocked out of the EU market. Or did you wait to see what on earth the Government did, to fill in this void? Do not just go to government with X, Y and Z as a problem. Dont get me wrong, I think the NFU is really optimistic about the future, we really believe we can be leaders in climate-friendly food production. In order to work through a process, people had to understand the technical detail that underpinned all of this. I know where that negotiating team are, so, either one side or the other side has to capitulate between now and June. Michael Gove was perhaps not in his most ideal Cabinet seat, but I think he did manage to rebrand himself with what had been deemed to be a graveyard department, to the benefit of the department. I think it is always challenging when you work with a majority government. Some of which, like David Frost, its been impossible to meet. WebMinette met her husband Alec Walters while she was at Durham and they married in 1978. WebMinette Batters is known for Midlands Today (1964), Kay Burley @Breakfast (2019) and Sky News Today (2001). What were your early engagements with the new May administration like? Her father died from kidney failure in 1960. We never even got close to that. And a support aid budget of 3bn, a lot of talk is made about that. We knew it would be a lose-lose to try and lobby, effectively, for a race to the bottom. We had implemented laws that were based on food values, and yet we werent prepared to look at that in other parts of the world. I dont think DIT and Defra are aligned in their thinking. MB: I think, genuinely, probably nobody wanted it to play out how its played out, which has been long and protracted and divisive. Verified account Protected Tweets @; Suggested users It was about saying that this needed to be fair and equitable to all. airline pilot retirement age 70; what happened to mark reilly strong island; east carolina dean's list spring 2021; the frequency table shows the distribution of 1,200 students; lessons on stealing for students; That was primarily because of the WTOs Most Favoured Nations rules, where you cant have one rule for the EU and one rule for the rest of the world. So, I went to bed, went to sleep, woke up the following morning, and it was one of those situations Ive never done it before, Ill probably never do it again whereby you did not believe the television. dune fremen language translator. MB: No more than the rest of Europe did. We brought a massive coalition together of all farming organisations, nearly every NGO that is out there animal welfare experts, consumer groups, Jamie Oliver, Raymond Blanc, Prue Leith. MB: No, its a massively significant issue. She supplemented her salary by writing romantic novelettes, short stories, and serials in her It means that the future absolutely has to be got right, and delivery has to work. In September 2007, Walters released her fourteenth book, The Chameleon's Shadow, in the UK. Tom Bradshaw NFU Deputy President Tom farms in partnership with his wife, Emily, and his parents in North Essex. And at the moment, what we are finding is that there are so many moving parts to the level of engagement with different trading partners. The NFU wanted MPs to have more say on trade of agrifood. Did you think, I need this like a hole in the head, I could just go back to my farm and live a quiet life, rather than get stuck into this political morass? It was a formidable coalition. How are you going to do that? I think there was a sort of realisation then that, actually, they hadnt got this quite right, and they needed to be talking about farmers, about food production. Minette Batters (MB): Its a really odd bubble that were living in at the moment. Or did you think it was just so unthinkable and such a bad thing, that you werent even prepared to talk about it with government? Analytical Services; Analytical Method Development and Validation Its not perfect by any means. We did still have the practical issue though to register as either Remain or Leave with the Electoral Commission so as not to fall foul of the impending spending limits on our activity. That, above all else, United Kingdom farmers remained the number one supplier of choice to their own marketplace. There are a lot of things that need to be done. MB: Yes. The romantic novelettes were written in approximately two weeks and published under a pseudonym that remains a secret. There isnt a silver bullet, but ignoring the situation and saying it isnt important is not a way forwards. We focused all our lobbying on, I guess, the outcomes that we wanted to see achieved, not our means of getting there by some of the existing avenues; the Single Market, customs union, EFTA. So, we had a very good discussion at NFU Council in April 2016. Of course, dont forget, then Covid-19 is hogging the news agenda, so its even harder to get your voice heard. How do we resolve an issue that kept the United Kingdom together and allowed us, effectively, to transition into a new relationship? UKICE: Were you at all worried that he seemed to be establishing a rather surprisingly good relationship with the green lobby, who I think probably had a similar, oh my God, moment when he was appointed. If government is going to introduce legislation on higher welfare, it needs to effectively put its money where its mouth is, and make sure that our procurement is only sourcing at those standards. In 2019 Minette was appointed a Deputy Lieutenant of Dorset. Wedding and Corporate events venue. All sorts of different people, in different places, dealing with different things. Her third historical novel, The Swift and the Harrier, was published in 2021. They have two sons: Roland, who is married to Charlotte, and Philip, who is married to So, it was incredibly important for me to get to speak to Theresa May, and we were trying to just get agriculture to register on the Richter Scale. UKICE: We saw the very hostile reaction from EU political leaders to Chequers, but I wondered whether you got any sense from your sister bodies in France, Denmark, Netherlands, places that were concerned about UK lowering standards and the implications for that on agri-food farming, that they thought Chequers was quite a clever wheeze? MB: From the very beginning, weve been part of what have been called the F4 Groups. He was there as Minister of State for Farming beforehand, under Michael, so we knew George very, very well. We had other members who were saying, You cannot take a position, or, If you do take a position, it must be vote Remain, or, It must be vote Leave. That takes me back to the point where I said that trade policy is so complex, its dull as ditch water, and so many people, politically, had not got to grips with the massive challenge, particularly the issues we would see on the island of Ireland. The authoritative source for independent research on UK-EU relations, President, National Farmers Union February 2018 Present, Deputy President, National Farmers Union February 2014 February 2018. And I think George Eustice described this as seeing me have a sort of nuclear moment, where I nearly erupted through the ceiling. Minette Batters California probably has higher standards than many parts of Europe. I definitely felt that was a moment in time. 1995 The CWA Gold Dagger Award (shortlist): 1995 The Best Translated Crime Fiction of the Year in Japan. I can remember challenging him at our February 2019 annual conference. It took two and a half years to write and was rejected by numerous publishing houses until Maria Rejt, Macmillan Publishers, bought it for 1250. Do you get the sense that this is a long-term policy, that the Government doesnt want to invest in the border? I would pose the question what does that mean for government buying standards? MB: Lord Frost has been the difficult one to date. Weve got the climate here to be growing it. Minette Walters - Wikipedia To undermine our farmers, when you want them to have regulation that costs a lot of money, and undermine them with cheap products coming in that dont even meet the first rung of the ladder, was going to do one thing, and that was going to put our farmers out of business. Within four months, it had won the Crime Writers' Association John Creasey award for best first novel[3] and had been snapped up by 11 foreign publishers. We then used the NFU Council, to identify the key issues, we brought together an options paper, and we looked at bringing together a whole host of task and finish groups. Production of salad ingredients like tomatoes and cucumbers are expected to fall to the lowest levels since records began in 1985. Batterss 17-year-old twins, who are studying for their A-levels, havent decided if they will take over running the farm, but it remains a family business. You also hear talk of having higher standards here, so being above the EU. We just focused on, What we need is free and frictionless trade, which I think, for some, got quite annoying. I sat back down next to him and I said, What do you think? And he looked at me, slightly surprised, and he said, I think youre very brave. You dont mention food production, you dont mention agriculture, all youre mentioning is the environment. Were such a big organisation, representing 50,000 farmers across England and Wales. If you want to find a solution, youve got to pitch them as a solution and youve got to work out what that actually looks like. It has also been translated into several languages. We were well aware then that agriculture is incredibly complex, and always the last chapter in trade deals to be achieved. We didnt want protection of our food standards written in blood, we just wanted it put in ink. Straight away she ruled out being part of the Single Market, and we had those big speeches at Lancaster House, Mansion House, that were hard-line Brexit positions. Stephen Sackur talks to Minette Batters, Has this led to a fundamental change in the relationship between the NFU and the governments of the different parts of the UK? Youve got all the challenges with Stranraer and other places about access points. Minette has written another entry in the Quick Reads series entitled A Dreadful Murder for World Book Day 2013. Given he was one of the greatest proponents in the Brexit debate, of isnt it great, food is going to be cheaper. Yet, we were seeing no sign of deregulating. Or did you, at that stage, think, This is so catastrophic, its just not going to happen? During a gap year between school and Durham University, 1968, Minette volunteered in Israel with The Bridge in Britain, working on a kibbutz and in a delinquent boys home in Jerusalem. Youve got Liz Truss leading on trade with the rest of the world. What did the NFU want? MB: I think the biggest challenge, if Im honest, is the number of different departments, different people, dealing with different things. Australia is the sort of precedent FTA because that will be the first one, potentially, that is concluded. So, there were, along this journey, some slightly heart-stopping moments, as to the road that we were on. Things could go massively I think Defra has very strong views on all of this, I know George Eustice does. That was a manifesto commitment, dont forget, in the 2019 election not to undermine our farmers in future FTAs. Weve worked very closely with them throughout, so weve always known that it is a very, very difficult area. In all these challenges, we knew that any border would have to be in the Irish Sea. She turned freelance in 1977 but continued to write for magazines to cover her bills. We know that agriculture is always a big facet of trade deals, particularly with the people that the EU has failed to do trade deals with. WebA round-up of all the video updates from NFU President Minette Batters on how we're representing British f More More Play all Shuffle 1 5:25 Putting the lamb market on Id be lying if I said I didnt think that. Its worth pointing out that, at that time, there was not even one side of policy on A4 of what leaving the EU would look like. Still the position remains today from our European partners that we must sign up to dynamic alignment of rules across the EU SPS area. This arguably makes her the most powerful farmer in the UK; she WebMinette met her husband Alec Walters while she was at Durham and they married in 1978. What was not to like? Go to them, saying, This is the solution to that problem. The contestants were Brendan Cole, Sherrie Hewson, Kelvin MacKenzie, Matt Allwright, Angela Griffin and Diarmuid Gavin. minette batters And we got that. And, as someone quite well known to you, were you relieved that it was someone who had a track record on farming? So, in my opinion its been a phenomenal return on investment and it can be an even better return on investment, if we all work together. HARDtalk. Who's who at the NFU WebOn 19 April our Environmental Change & #FoodSecurity inquiry heard from @HenryDimbleby; @Minette_Batters, @NFUtweets; Peter Dawson, @dairyuk; @suepritch, @FFC_Commission; and Chris Brown, @asda. Have you been pressurising government-? We wanted government to put its money where its mouth was. MINETTE BATTERS: I have huge admiration for farmers across the world, not least our cousins in Australia and New Zealand. Her third novel, The Scolds Bridle, then won the CWA Gold Dagger, giving her a unique treble. abril 26, 2023 0 Visualizaes jason elliott, newsom. I think, again, we need to be looking at producing more here. I think its essential that we can meet with him, bearing in mind weve still got active engagement with member states trying to resolve these issues. But Defra, government, really only focused on bail-out packages in a no deal scenario, that would allow farmers to effectively restructure. They have two sons, Roland and Philip. MB: I think, bearing in mind how vital our market is to them, they could see that it allowed a way through. UKICE: How did you think the Department was coping? And then, of course, just this wall of silence. UKICE: You dont represent farmers in Northern Ireland, because theyre represented by the Ulster Farmers Union. Chequers, if Im honest, allowed that to happen. Weve always maintained that, in the UK, we dont want to lower standards, but there has always been a concern as to what imports and the future of international trade will look like. Australia can move livestock not only across the country but across seas, thousands and thousands of kilometres, and we have just banned it here. If we go and dilute that massively, and have a flood of much cheaper imports, that is obviously going to undermine our farmers. UKICE: Did you get a sense that government actually appreciated the lengths of those lead times in farming? Of course, if in effect you listen to everybody, then it does allow you the opportunity of going away and doing your own thing, because youve got all these dissenting voices. UKICE: Do you think the Department for International Trade and Defra now have a unified view, or is this battle still being played out within government, as opposed to outside government? So, the need for the NFU to get this right, to not drop a ball, to be focused on what is needed, to be the lobbyist extraordinaire ultimately, the weight of that falling on my shoulders has felt like a massive responsibility. Menu. But does the farming industry feel that its adapting okay, or are there surprising new challenges, unanticipated challenges, emerging? Were still going to need a workforce. They have two sons, Roland and Philip. MB: Really concerned. That is going to be, I think, quite a challenge, especially on the back of Covid, in terms of making the case for future investment. IMDb is the world's most popular and authoritative source for movie, TV and celebrity content. Andrea Leadsom, a leading light of the Leave campaign, moves over to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), to replace Liz Truss, and the establishment of the Department for International Trade (DIT), to show that new trade deals were going to be a big thing for the new government. UKICE: But its also consulting, isnt it, on gene editing and other issues like that, which the Government sees as a big new possibility to appear more open to innovation than the EU. Youve got Lord Frost leading on the future of the UK new relationship. So, when I went and had my second meeting with Theresa May, it was to discuss her Chequers proposal. Bring everybody into the room, have a massive discussion, and then he would leave the room and you were never quite sure as to who had been listened to. You didnt know what your workforce was going to look like, you didnt know what the future policy was going to look like. We went to Wageningen University, a world leading Dutch University with experience in running agricultural trade models. We wanted MPs to be able to know all aspects of those free trade agreements, what was in them, what the impact would be, and we wanted them, ultimately, to have the final say. But that didnt stop us from getting stuck in. Weve legislated to achieve net zero, but there is so much that can be achieved through new policy thinking as to what that looks like, and ultimately, our opportunity to influence European thinking. There have been challenges. We cant have one standard for one and not for another. Biography | Official website for Minette Walters
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