MS says government should support Monmouthshire farmers
Bluetongue, a disease spread by midges, affects sheep and cattle but poses no risk to humans.
The new regulations put in place by the Welsh Government will prevent livestock from England from entering Wales.
This move is expected to impact normal trading practices.
Peter Fox, Member of the Senedd for Monmouth, voiced his worries regarding these restrictions.
He said: "These new regulations will cause huge financial problems for farmers, but they will not keep Bluetongue out of Wales.
"We should align with England's restricted zone policy with increased vaccinations to avoid unnecessarily harming the farming community further."
Mr Fox also highlighted the resultant decline in livestock at the Royal Welsh Agricultural Show, an event hailed as one of Europe's leading agricultural exhibitions.
Further criticism was directed at the Labour Government, with Mr Fox stating: "I am disappointed that once again, Welsh Labour are abandoning our farmers, we need to support farmers in Monmouthshire."
Huw Irranca-Davies, deputy First Minister with responsibility for Climate Change and Rural Affairs, addressed the situation with the disease.
He said: "My goal at this stage remains to keep Bluetongue out of Wales for the benefit of our animals and those who keep them.
"The economic and farmer well-being concerns caused by dealing with severe Bluetongue are first and foremost in my mind."
He also expressed his willingness to review and adapt the current policies, should the situation change.
"Our shared priority over the coming weeks is to promote vaccine take-up," he added.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Leader Live
25 minutes ago
- Leader Live
Starmer: Labour will not take away ‘safety net' from vulnerable people
In a speech to the Welsh Labour conference that came after a major U-turn on reforms in the face of a backbench rebellion, he said fixing the 'broken' system must be done in a 'Labour way'. 'We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won't, but we also can't let it become a snare for those who can and want to work,' the Prime Minister said. 'Everyone agrees that our welfare system is broken: failing people every day, a generation of young people written off for good and the cost spiralling out of control. 'Fixing it is a moral imperative, but we need to do it in a Labour way.' He called Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan a 'fierce champion' and 'the best person to lead Wales into the future' to applause and cheers from the audience. Baroness Morgan had publicly criticised the welfare plans and called for Sir Keir to change tack on restrictions on winter fuel payments, which he also eventually reversed. Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC she was 'right to raise concerns' and promised to 'deliver on those as far as we can'. Farmers gathered outside the conference in Llandudno to protest ahead of Sir Keir's speech, with about 20 tractors parked on the promenade in the north Wales resort town by late morning. Sir Keir also said any deal between the Tories, Reform UK and Plaid Cymru at next year's key elections in Wales would amount to a 'backroom stitch-up'. The elections to the Senedd will use a proportional system for the first time, meaning coalitions are likely. The Prime Minister said it would risk a 'return to the chaos and division of the last decade' and risk rolling back the progress his party is starting to make. He told the Llandudno conference it would be 'working families left to pick up the bill'. 'Whether that's with Reform or with Plaid's determination to cut Wales off from the rest of the country, with no plan to put Wales back together,' he said. 'I know that these are the parties that talk a big game, but who is actually delivering?' Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out making deals with Plaid Cymru or Reform at the next Senedd election. Reform UK is eyeing an opportunity to end Labour's 26 years of domination in the Welsh Parliament. Labour performed poorly in this year's local elections in England, which saw Nigel Farage's party win a swathe of council seats. Sir Keir also took aim at Nigel Farage, calling him a 'wolf in Wall Street clothing' who has 'no idea what he's talking about'. He said the Reform UK leader 'isn't interested in Wales' and has no viable plan for the blast furnaces at Port Talbot.
Spectator
42 minutes ago
- Spectator
Why Keir Starmer is worried about Wales
Keir Starmer's address to the Welsh Labour conference this morning was exactly the kind of speech we expected. With eleven months to go until a difficult set of devolved elections, the Prime Minister fell back on the greatest hits to play to the party faithful. Labour is the party with the 'interests of working people at their heart' and 'it always will be', Starmer said. The Senedd elections next May risk producing a 'backroom stitch-up between the Tories, Reform and Plaid' with 'working families left to pick up the bill.' He reeled off various achievements: the minimum wage increase, workers' rights, the carer's allowance and, most significantly, a 'record uplift to Welsh funding.' The audience received it appreciatively enough. But this was a difficult speech for Starmer to make for three reasons. The first was the immediate circumstances of No. 10's benefits U-turn. The PM addressed this head on in his speech, insisting that welfare reform was a 'moral imperative' but had to be done 'in a Labour way'. The second are the continued tensions between Starmer and Eluned Morgan, the Welsh First Minister. Amid clashes over benefits and winter fuel, she has demanded greater powers, insisting that she will 'not stay silent' about decisions 'we think will harm Welsh communities.' The difference in their approach to politics can best be seen in slogans. This year's conference focuses on Morgan's 'Red Welsh Way', versus last year's line 'Delivering for Wales.' Yet the third reason was the most important of all. Labour is currently on course to lose Cardiff Bay next year for the first time in 27 years. The last two polls both gave the party just 18 per cent, which would produce a poor third place behind both Plaid Cymru and Reform UK. Morgan told her conference that the Senedd election will be a 'moment of reckoning'. But for Welsh Labour, it risks being a reckoning with their own record in government. She tried to attack Reform UK for their plans for the devolved health system, claiming that Nigel Farage's party would 'dismantle' the Welsh NHS and 'rip it up' for a 'privatised, profit-driven' system. Yet with Wales suffering the worst UK health outcomes, such attacks now resonate less than they might once have done. The net effect is a fraught relationship between the two strands of the Welsh Labour party: MPs at Westminster and MSs at Cardiff Bay. 'Idiots', 'mollycoddled', 'smug', 'nutty and 'naive' were all words used by the former to describe the latter in a recent Politico briefing that circulated on Labour WhatsApp groups. Facing threats from both left and right, the party seems unable to decide on the best way of concurrently shoring up both flanks. For now, Starmer appears to have settled on talking up the chances of a coalition of chaos. But given his own government's struggles, talk of continuity and stability may no longer prove so persuasive on doorsteps out in Wales.
Rhyl Journal
an hour ago
- Rhyl Journal
Starmer: Labour will not take away ‘safety net' from vulnerable people
In a speech to the Welsh Labour conference that came after a major U-turn on reforms in the face of a backbench rebellion, he said fixing the 'broken' system must be done in a 'Labour way'. 'We cannot take away the safety net that vulnerable people rely on, and we won't, but we also can't let it become a snare for those who can and want to work,' the Prime Minister said. 'Everyone agrees that our welfare system is broken: failing people every day, a generation of young people written off for good and the cost spiralling out of control. 'Fixing it is a moral imperative, but we need to do it in a Labour way.' He called Welsh First Minister Eluned Morgan a 'fierce champion' and 'the best person to lead Wales into the future' to applause and cheers from the audience. Baroness Morgan had publicly criticised the welfare plans and called for Sir Keir to change tack on restrictions on winter fuel payments, which he also eventually reversed. Sir Keir Starmer told the BBC she was 'right to raise concerns' and promised to 'deliver on those as far as we can'. Farmers gathered outside the conference in Llandudno to protest ahead of Sir Keir's speech, with about 20 tractors parked on the promenade in the north Wales resort town by late morning. Sir Keir also said any deal between the Tories, Reform UK and Plaid Cymru at next year's key elections in Wales would amount to a 'backroom stitch-up'. The elections to the Senedd will use a proportional system for the first time, meaning coalitions are likely. The Prime Minister said it would risk a 'return to the chaos and division of the last decade' and risk rolling back the progress his party is starting to make. He told the Llandudno conference it would be 'working families left to pick up the bill'. 'Whether that's with Reform or with Plaid's determination to cut Wales off from the rest of the country, with no plan to put Wales back together,' he said. 'I know that these are the parties that talk a big game, but who is actually delivering?' Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has not ruled out making deals with Plaid Cymru or Reform at the next Senedd election. Reform UK is eyeing an opportunity to end Labour's 26 years of domination in the Welsh Parliament. Labour performed poorly in this year's local elections in England, which saw Nigel Farage's party win a swathe of council seats. Sir Keir also took aim at Nigel Farage, calling him a 'wolf in Wall Street clothing' who has 'no idea what he's talking about'. He said the Reform UK leader 'isn't interested in Wales' and has no viable plan for the blast furnaces at Port Talbot.
