Food price summit? PM cared diddly squat
Supermarket bosses summoned to No 10 fume as Sunak mucks in with stars of Clarkson’s Farm
‘If we can try and make him change the world of farming and help the farmers out, brilliant’
HAVING assembled in Downing Street for a “farm to fork” summit, the country’s supermarket bosses had expected top-level discussions on food prices and agricultural subsidies.
Instead, some felt they had been mere “window dressing” for what Rishi Sunak seemed to regard as the most important job of the day: bagging himself a cameo on Clarkson’s Farm.
The attendees at the meeting included farmhand Kaleb Cooper and land agent Charlie Ireland, both of whom have gained cult status as fixtures on Jeremy Clarkson’s Amazon Prime show about his inept attempts to run his Oxfordshire estate.
Mr Sunak was so excited to meet the farming celebrities that he not only posted pictures of himself with Mr Cooper on social media but also promised to make policy changes that would directly benefit Clarkson.
The Prime Minister said he would slash red tape to make it easier for farmers to turn old barns into farm shops without the need for planning permission from local councils, something Clarkson later described as “extremely good news”.
In an interview on BBC Radio 4’s Farming Today programme, Mr Cooper said that he thought the Prime Minister “100 per cent” understood farming and added: “We were talking about dairy farming and about sheep, even though I hate sheep. They love dying, getting out and just causing you the world of pain.
“I think he’s got the farming community in his head, and not at the back of his head, actually, at the front.”
Much of the most recent series of Clarkson’s Farm has been taken up with the presenter’s battle with West Oxfordshire council to run a farm shop and restaurant on his land.
If Mr Sunak makes good on his promise, Clarkson will be able to bypass the council, which had previously objected to his plans because of the hour-long traffic queues snaking out of the village of Chadlington to his Diddly Squat shop.
Mr Sunak will no doubt be hoping his gesture will guarantee him some positive publicity in the next series of the hugely popular show, due to be shown next year. Clarkson has said he expects it to be released towards the end of summer 2024.
Mr Sunak posted a picture of himself and Mr Cooper sharing a joke on his Instagram feed, saying: “Enjoyed meeting at 10 Downing Street today to discuss how to get more young people into farming – and compare hairstyles.”
Clarkson himself had been invited to the meeting and had been expected to attend, though he has attracted controversy recently because of comments made about the Duchess of Sussex in a newspaper column. Asked about Mr Cooper’s attendance at the event, the Prime Minister’s spokesman said: “Obviously, that programme has been important in raising some of the issues that farmers face.”
While the meeting might have been a win-win for Clarkson and Mr Sunak, others present in No 10 were less thrilled with how it went.
“It was more of a showcase than a summit,” said one. “It felt like window dressing.” The same source said the meeting had been “odd” because farming and retail bosses were asked how to make the food supply chain more resilient but the Government shied away from talking about supermarket prices.
Another attendee said food prices were not discussed at all, while a third said they felt the agenda at the meeting had been different from what had been billed.
Karen Betts, chief executive of the Food and Drink Federation, said the summit had been “a constructive first step” in addressing some of the complex challenges the UK food system is facing.
“However, it’s a pity there wasn’t more of a laser focus on immediate issues and the drivers of inflation.”
Minette Batters, president of the National Farmers’ Union, said the summit was “timely” and a “very positive” move by No 10.
Mr Cooper clearly regarded the meeting as a success. Asked if Mr Sunak was just trying to win countryside votes, he told the BBC: “I don’t get political like that. If we can try and make him change the world of farming and help the farmers out, brilliant, you know?”