{"id":789092,"date":"2026-02-26T00:12:31","date_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:12:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/789092\/"},"modified":"2026-02-26T00:12:31","modified_gmt":"2026-02-26T00:12:31","slug":"keir-starmer-warned-against-key-brexit-betrayal-by-uk-farming-boss-politics-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/789092\/","title":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer warned against key Brexit betrayal by UK farming boss | Politics | News"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Tom<\/p>\n

Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union, speaking in Birmingham (Image: NFU)<\/p>\n

A farming union boss has warned that access to gene editing and pesticides are in \u201creal jeopardy\u201d as the UK seeks a closer trade relationship with the EU.<\/p>\n

Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers Union (NFU), suggested the UK risks undermining its progress on technological advancements.<\/p>\n

He said: “We welcome the principle of an improved relationship with the EU, one that reduces friction and enables better trade at a time of global instability. But the devil will be in the detail. We have to get it right, and there is real jeopardy.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe mustn’t sacrifice our hard-won technological advantage in gene editing, or our access to GB approved plant protection products in order to reach a deal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some crops, including strawberries, onions, potatoes, barley and wheat, are being sprayed with pesticides banned across Europe.<\/p>\n

Read more:<\/strong> Fury as Keir Starmer’s latest Brexit betrayal threatens to devastate UK farmers <\/a><\/p>\n

The UK’s post-Brexit<\/a> “precision breeding” legislation has opened the door for the rapid development of more nutritious and resilient food crops using genetic technologies.<\/p>\n

After Brexit, the UK passed the Genetic Technology (Precision Breeding) Act 2023 which created a distinction between gene editing and genetically modified foods.<\/p>\n

Farming bosses have voiced concerns that this advantage could be lost under \u201cdynamic alignment\u201d with EU rules as the government seeks closer trading ties with Europe.<\/p>\n

The NFU is lobbying for an exception to be applied to the government’s gene editing legislation to ensure it is not affected by a new Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement being negotiated as part of Keir Starmer<\/a>\u2019s EU “reset”.<\/p>\n

The Daily Express has launched the Give Us a Proper Brexit campaign to ensure Britain fully uses the freedoms allowed by exiting the EU.<\/p>\n

Mr Bradshaw also took aim at the Government over the 14-month inheritance tax fight following Rachel Reeves<\/a>\u2019s 2024 budget decision to heap the levy on farmers.<\/p>\n

Speaking at the NFU\u2019s yearly conference in Birmingham, he said \u201cwe still believe the inheritance tax policy is fundamentally flawed\u201d while calling on political parties to make axing the family farm tax a manifesto promise.<\/p>\n

The government made a sudden U-turn in December when it reversed its stance on inheritance tax, raising relief for farms and businesses from \u00a31million to \u00a32.5million.<\/p>\n

This followed a long-fought Express campaign called Save Britain\u2019s Family Farm – which continues to demand the Government scrap the tax entirely.<\/p>\n

Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds used her appearance at the conference to announce that farmers will be able to access \u00a3345 million for technology and green measures from seed-planting robots to putting in new hedgerows.<\/p>\n

Ms Reynolds said: \u201cI am determined to give British farming the foundation it needs to grow.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want farm businesses that are productive, profitable, and resilient.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe want to see more British food on more tables \u2013 here at home and around the world.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd we want a countryside that is thriving \u2013 for wildlife, for communities, and for the families who have worked this land for generations.\u201d<\/p>\n

She also unveiled new details about the government\u2019s Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme which is \u201csimpler, fairer, more stable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Her comments come after a warning from NFU president Tom Bradshaw that a failure to build resilience in farming threatens domestic food production and therefore food security, national security and economic growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tom Bradshaw, president of the National Farmers’ Union, speaking in Birmingham (Image: NFU) A farming union boss has…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":789093,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,5322,748,2000,299,5187,1699,35234,4884,3121,183433,60534,16,15],"class_list":["post-789092","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-brexit","tag-brexit","tag-brexit-news","tag-britain","tag-eu","tag-europe","tag-european","tag-european-union","tag-gene-editing","tag-great-britain","tag-inheritance-tax","tag-national-farmers-union","tag-save-britains-family-farms","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116134041848943070","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789092","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=789092"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/789092\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/789093"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=789092"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=789092"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=789092"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}