For many in Westminster (myself included), summer recess brings a welcome reprieve from what is always a manic end of term.
This year has been no different, both in terms of the changes in government and our lobbying in Parliament. That being said, with a huge overhaul of ministerial roles and a new government currently operating in overdrive, a slower- paced August seems unlikely.
We saw a flurry of parliamentary activity in July, in large part thanks to a concerted effort from us to engage with MPs and help raise awareness about the market challenges facing the pig sector and to apply pressure to the government.
First up, former Defra secretary Emma Reynolds faced questions from members of the EFRA Committee on July 7. When questions turned to fairness in the supply chain, it will come as no surprise to hear that Charlie Dewhirst (Con, Bridlington and The Wolds) was straight in, asking about the market challenges in the pig sector.
She responded by telling the committee that she was ‘aware that this is a very difficult time for the pig industry’, and while she wasn’t aware if current food security and rural affairs minister Stephen Morgan had met with the industry, she presumed that his predecessor, Angela Eagle, had.
Sadly, we were unable to hold any bilateral meetings with Angela Eagle before she was reshuffled out of Defra.
The pressure built later that week following work with MPs to secure a question on the order paper for Defra oral questions in the House of Commons.
The way this works behind the scenes is that MPs table questions in advance, which get put into a ballot, with only about 10 actually making it onto the order paper on the day. We briefed MPs extensively ahead of the session and it was positive to see five MPs question Stephen Morgan on the steps the government is taking to support independent pig producers.
We provided hand-out questions to MPs, all of which were asked and we saw additional questions from a shadow minister and EFRA Committee chair, Alistair Carmichael (Lib Dem, Orkney and Shetland).
Pig support debate
This was then followed by a 90-minute debate on support for the pig sector in parliament the following week, secured by Harriet Cross (Con, Gordon and Buchan). Once again, we briefed extensively ahead of this debate to ensure MPs understood the full extent of the challenges facing independent producers at present.
The NPA was mentioned 15 times and, of the 14 MPs who spoke in the debate, 11 quoted information provided to them by the NPA, in many instances verbatim.
Many issues of concern were raised, including transparency and parity with imports, the threats posed by poor biosecurity and disease, and the ongoing market challenges.
MPs highlighted poor prices, contracts being terminated, the adequacy of the Fair Dealing Obligations (Pigs) regulations and the welfare concerns of pigs being backed up on farm.
Over the course of the past few months, we have been actively briefing MPs and their teams, both in writing and face to face. Since the end of May, I have met with 10 MPs and their teams and have shared four separate briefing notes to update parliamentarians on the state of the market.
We are extremely grateful to all those MPs who listened to our concerns and applied pressure to government. Put simply, without the pressure and attention we have built up over recent weeks, the meeting we secured with Stephen Morgan is unlikely to have happened.
The NPA met with him on July 15, and we were incredibly pleased with how willing he was to listen to the needs of the sector and support where he could. While there is still more work to do, there was a commitment to maintain ongoing dialogue during this very challenging time.
New man in town
Andy Burnham’s entry into No 10 has seen a huge churn in ministers, as well as a fresh direction in terms of policy. Thankfully, from the perspective of Defra, we have got away rather lightly. We have a new secretary of state, the return of Angela Eagle, who had only been away from the department for just over five weeks.
Beyond that, our other key ministers, Stephen Morgan and Baroness Hayman, have remained in post, so work should be able to continue more or less as normal, without the hugely disruptive process that introducing new ministers brings.
One welcome new face is Jenny Riddell-Carpenter, the Labour MP for Suffolk Coastal. While not only being from a pig-dense part of the country, she helped set up and chair the Labour Rural Research Group and has been an EFRA Committee member since her election two years ago.