Western Morning News (Saturday)
Eustice urged to ‘say sorry’ in Brexit fish row
ENVIRONMENT Secretary George Eustice has faced demands from a fellow Westcountry MP to apologise for pushing many fishing businesses to the brink of “collapse” via the Government’s Brexit deal with the EU.
Shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard, MP for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, said that the sector has “lost trust and confidence” in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).
But Cabinet minister George Eustice, (Camborne and Redruth) insisted the deal has allowed the UK to “regain control of regulations in our waters”, and volumes of trade are back up to “around 85% of normal volumes” following a challenging start to the year.
Conservative backbenchers also pressed the Environment Secretary to ease red tape facing UK fishers.
The exchanges came as the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations expressed fears that the Scottish industry is being given “priority” by the Government ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections in May and with a “second referendum on the union hanging in the balance”.
That could leave important English fishing ports, including Brixham, Plymouth and Newlyn out in the cold, many South West fishermen and their representatives fear.
The fishermen’s federation said: “Fears are mounting south of the border, that the lion’s share of additional quota secured as part of that Christmas Eve deal will be used to placate nationalist sentiments in Scotland.”
Speaking in the Commons, Labour’s Mr Pollard – with a large fishing contingent in his constituency – said: “Fishing boats are tied up, fish exporters are tied up with red tape. Fishing was promised a sea of opportunity but the reality is many fishing businesses are on the verge of collapse. Much of the so-called extra fish may not even exist or be able to be caught by British boats.
“The fishing industry feels betrayed. Isn’t now the time for the Secretary of State to apologise to the fishing industry for the Brexit deal his Government negotiated?”
Mr Eustice replied: “I’ve made clear all along that the Government had hoped to get closer to a zonal attachment sharing arrangement in that first multi-annual agreement, but there is a significant uplift of 25% of the fish that the EU has historically caught in our waters that they’ve been required to forfeit as the price for continued access. That additional fishing quota is worth £140 million.”
But Mr Pollard added: “There was no apology, no sense of reality from the Secretary of State. He can’t wriggle out of this one, the net is closing in on him.
“The reality is that fishing has lost trust and confidence in the actions of Defra for all the broken promises.”
Mr Eustice defended the Government’s deal on fishing and said there had been some new “administrative processes” in place which had proved “challenging” for the sector in January, with a support fund put in place.
In response to a separate question from Liberal Democrat MP Wendy Chamberlain (North East Fife), Mr Eustice said: “It is worth noting that we are now seeing lorry-loads of fish clearing border control posts in France, typically in under an hour, sometimes a little bit longer, but it is an improving situation and volumes of trade are back up to around 85% of normal volumes.”
Conservative MP Neil Parish, (Tiverton and Honiton) who chairs the EFRA committee, called for a digital system to be introduced to make it easier for UK businesses to export to and import from the EU.
And Sir Gary Streeter, Conservative
MP for South West Devon, highlighted problems faced by UK exporters to the EU and suggested immediately imposing the same checks on fish products from EU countries arriving in the UK.
He said: “So regulatory equivalence, would this not help bring people to the table to resolve the current disruption being suffered by our fishing industry?”
Mr Eustice replied: “When we do start to introduce those checks they will indeed be equivalent and similar to the types of checks that the European Union is currently requiring on our own fish exports.”
He said at that point regulation and safeguards could become more ‘user friendly’
ACORNISH egg producer has been named one of the best businesses in rural Britain, after winning a prestigious national award.
St Ewe Free Range Eggs scooped the title of Best Rural Food Business at the first virtual final of the Rural Business Awards, in association with Amazon.
Based in Tregony, on the stunning Roseland Peninsula, the family-run firm offers one of the most unique range of eggs on the market, which are available both regionally and nationwide and includes the scientifically developed and highly nutritious ‘Super Eggs’.
Speaking after winning the award, Nikki Owen, head of marketing at St Ewe Free Range Eggs, said: “Thank you to the Rural Business Awards and Amazon for this amazing award. We also want to thank the people of Cornwall and beyond who buy and enjoy our eggs. It means the world to us and we could not have achieved this success without you, our amazing team, producer farms and suppliers.
The Rural Business Awards 2020/21 mark the awards’ sixth year of celebrating the success of businesses across the UK’s rural sector, which, according to a report commissioned by Amazon and published by Rural England and Scotland’s Rural College (SRUC), contributes £299 billion in Gross Value Added to the overall UK economy.
Due to the impact of Covid-19, this year’s competition was run entirely online. The finalists attended the awards’ first virtual final ceremony, which was held on Thursday, February 25.
The winners were decided by an independent panel of judges drawn from the rural business sector, rural public sector agencies and rural charitable organisations.
This year, businesses could enter 13 categories, ranging from Best Rural Start-Up Business and Best Rural Diversification Project, through to Best Rural Professional Services Business and The Triumph Over Adversity Award.
John Boumphrey, UK country manager for Amazon, commented:
“It’s an honour to support the Rural Business Awards’ efforts to showcase the incredible talent of British rural business.
“On behalf of Amazon, I would like to congratulate St Ewe Free Range Eggs on this achievement, and I wish them further success in the future.”
The Rural Business Awards is the brainchild of Leicestershire businesswomen Anna Price and Jemma
Clifford, who wanted to showcase the wealth of entrepreneurial talent in rural areas of Britain.
Ms Price added: “On behalf of the Rural Business Awards, I would like to congratulate St Ewe Free Range Eggs on this well-deserved win.
“I would also like to extend my congratulations to all the businesses who made it to the final and wish them well in their future endeavours.”
ORGANISERS of two of the South West’s biggest oneday agricultural shows have cancelled this year’s events, amid uncertainty over coronavirus restrictions.
The Dunster Show and Holsworthy & Stratton Show, which had both been due to take place in August, will now not return until 2022.
It follows the cancellation of the Stithians Show and Camborne Show last month, the former being Cornwall’s largest one-day agricultural show.
The Dunster Show, held on the lawns below Dunster Castle near Minehead in Somerset, was due to host its 174th event on Friday, August 20.
But in a statement published on its website, chairman Roger Richmond and the board of trustees of the Dunster Show Society said the decision to cancel was “with great sadness” and one that had “not been taken lightly”.
“Even taking into account the latest statement from the Prime Minister, the current situation with Covid-19 and the uncertainty of restrictions on gatherings and of how long it will take to get back to some form of ‘normality’ has made it very difficult to run this year’s event,” it states.
“Planning for a show continues throughout the year, involving considerable financial outlay, and the committee consider that the risk to the finances of the charity is too great. Whilst this news is disappointing for everyone, we are sure that you would agree that the health, safety and wellbeing of our traders, competitors, members, sponsors, volunteers, visitors and local community is of paramount importance.”
It adds: “The continued support of the membership has been vital to the survival of the Dunster Show Society and the Committee express their gratitude to each and every one for their continued support during these unprecedented times allowing the Committee to provide bursaries to our existing students and donations to our charities.
“We look forward to seeing everyone on Friday, August 19, 2022 for an even better Dunster Show and hope and trust that the world is in a better place by then.”
Meanwhile the Holsworthy & Stratton Show, held at Killatree Cross near Pyworthy, traditionally rounds off a busy summer season of one-day shows in the South West and was due to take place on Thursday, August 26.
In an online statement confirming its cancellation for 2021, organisers said: “It is with great sadness that we are cancelling our 2021 show. We were very much hoping we would be able to run, but with so much still uncertain, we have made this sad decision.
“The show’s long term future and the health and wellbing of all who attend the show, as well as the residents of the surrounding area, are our upmost priority.
“We would like to thank everyone who has supported us through these last 12 very difficult months, we have been overwhelmed by kind messages, for which we are incredibly grateful. We look forward to welcoming you all back on Thursday, August 25, 2022.”