Our beef is with big bold Boris

The sun is shining on sodden fields as I write, after what has been recorded as the wettest February since records began. What a difference a year makes.

Last February I was at the tail end of my chairmanship of the Scottish Association of Young Farmers’ Clubs (SAYFC), and one of the final perks of the job was to lead an eager gang of members down for a two-day whistlestop tour of Westminster.

We got unprecedented access and met a wide range of characters and influencers and I know all members enjoyed the experience immensely.

Fast forward a year and a new local politician means we have yet to organise another visit.

When we do get back there it’s clear it will be a different place, with a new prime minister, a massive Tory majority and any prospect of a second Brexit referendum now a very distant memory.

What does remain, however, is the uncertainty for all of us over the significance of agriculture when it comes to trade talks.

For now we’re still getting mixed messages from those who are supposedly in charge.

George Eustice – who dramatically resigned just hours after meeting SAYFC members last year – has been boosted back into Cabinet by Boris’s recent reshuffle, but has publicly refused to guarantee a ban on the import of the emotive chlorinated chicken or hormone-implanted beef from the United States.

The worry is that if the environment secretary is admitting standards might be loosened at the very start of negotiations, how far will government go to get the final deal done?

Big bold Boris has publicly said that the UK would not accept a “diminution of standards” when it comes to trade deals, but unfortunately we’re all now taking such statements with a pinch of salt.

Whatever happens there does seem to be a consensus that it needs to happen very soon in order to meet the somewhat optimistic January 1 2021 exit date.

And with 100 UK delegates heading over to Brussels this week to recommence trade talks with the EU, it would appear that the government finally means business – something that we definitely didn’t see a year ago.

The fear is that it’s all too little, too late.

Maybe another visit to Westminster from 20 straight-talking SAYFC members would add some impetus.

We’re certainly working on it.