Briefing

100 days of Labour – where are we heading on food, farming, climate & health?

Aerial view of the Palace of Westminster, a group of gothic revival buildings.

It’s Autumn Budget day!

What could the Labour government do if it really wanted to tackle the issues in the food system? And what has it already done?

READ OUR BRIEFING with insights from Hannah Brinsden, head of policy and advocacy at The Food Foundation, and Andrew Meredith, Editor at Farmers Weekly.

The briefing summarises key points from Hannah and Andrew’s presentation in our recent webinar Labour’s first 100 days – where are we heading on food, farming, climate and health? and also includes a lightly edited transcript.

Hannah said:

“There are opportunities on the line and it’s not all doom and gloom, but we’re yet to see some really concrete action on food, health and poverty, and this exposes a lot of gaps that we hope will get filled over the coming weeks and months.”

Andrew said:

“Labour’s pre-election budget was policy-light on farming, with just 84 words dedicated to the sector. Many people suspected that it was a strategy – that they didn’t want to give too much away and be dragged into discussions in the election period. But people suspected that behind the scenes, there were a lot more plans that would be unveiled. This may be, but some people are starting to suspect that many of these promises around farming stability are actually a bit of stasis, and perhaps there aren’t as many plans in the background as thought.”

Jez Fredenburgh

Author: Jez Fredenburgh

Knowledge Exchange Fellow