Former Defra secretary of state George Eustice says there should be a new generation of UK fresh-produce glasshouse production post-election, supported by a Defra strategy.
The retiring Conservative MP believes more can also be done on labour. He supports a needs-based policy so sectors with shortages have sector-specific visas, and a 10-year-plus seasonal worker scheme maintained at current worker levels.
After standing down ahead of the 4 July general election, Eustice formed the Penbroath environmental and agricultural consultancy. He discusses his political legacy — the environment, agriculture and fisheries acts and the transition from EU subsidies to new schemes — from his nine-year stint as a Defra minister, including almost three as secretary of state until 2022. He also reflects on working through a “turbulent time”, with Brexit, Covid and Ukraine happening during his tenure.
On plant imports, he argues the UK has been “incredibly generous” to the EU on plant imports, and that has not been reciprocated with UK exports to the EU. Importers may find border control posts (BCPs) frustrating, but they should be buying from British nurseries where they know the health status of plants, he contends.
Eustice does admit that he would have timed the implementation better (delayed due to Covid, the Ukraine war and having to re-recruit border staff). Despite “teething problems”, he maintains that BCPs are the most proportionate and risk-based approach to stopping plant pests and diseases entering the UK.
On peat, he expresses frustration that his successor at Defra, Thérèse Coffey, brought forward peat-ban plans without a legislative vehicle. The consequent “uncertainty” was a “terrible mistake”. Eustice wanted to ban garden centre bagged sales but to delay commercial peat bans on growers until 2030, with vegetable module bans not implemented until 2035-40. He wants to see a return to that approach.
He discusses how the new Government, be it Tory or Labour, could bring elements of the peat ban into force, including using secondary regulation to restrict sales under the Environment Act’s “protecting resources” section, though the current the Government thought that would not work. A ban on all retail sales would get round how to make sure imports grown in peat do not undercut the UK market.
Other Horticulture Week Podcasts you might enjoy:
• Moving from planting to growing new trees, with the Tree Council’s Sara Lom
• The future of green jobs, with Billy Knowles of the Youth Environmental Service
The Spring Showcase was a predecessor of Farm to Fork, but policy is more important that the one-day summit, although it is important for the industry to have a voice, says Eustice.
As rumours swirl as to whether Henry Dimbleby might be brought in to lead food policy for a possible Labour Government (after he made food reports to the Government), Eustice says the Government actually implemented all 17 recommendations, including a land-use framework, but the influential food expert’s rhetoric did not match his calls.
Presenter: HortWeek editor Matthew Appleby
Producer: HortWeek digital content manager Christina Taylor
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