Powys MP meets Government Minister over bluetongue crisis
A Powys MP has met with a Government minister over the crisis for sheep farmers that could be coming due to Bluetongue restrictions.
MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe, David Chadwick, met with the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Wales Dame Nia Griffith to discuss the issue which has farmers either side of the Welsh Border alarmed.
Mr Chadwick was also able to secure invitations for Matthew Nicholls - Director at Hereford Market Auctioneers & Welsh representative of the Livestock Auctioneers Association and Simon Edwards - the Chairman of McCartneys to join the meeting with the Minister.
From July 1 sheep farmers will be required to pay for a bluetongue test for the animals to cross into Wales from England which may cost as much as £70 per animal.
The move has been met with horror by local farmers who in some cases will face a bill of as much as £25,000 to move sheep from one part of their land to another.
During the meeting, Mr Chadwick explained the situation facing farmers on the Welsh border and the economic impact facing farmers and local livestock markets in Knighton, Talgarth, Builth Wells, Hereford and Welshpool.
Both Mr Nicholls and Mr Edwards explained directly to the Minister the scale of the threat faced by local farmers and livestock markets as a result of the effective hard border for sheep travelling between England and Wales.
Following the meeting, Under-Secretary of State for Wales Dame Nia Griffith said she will seek to work with the Welsh Government to find a solution.
'I'm very grateful to the Minister for making the time to meet with myself and representatives of the local livestock markets to discuss the issues being faced by the sector as a result of the Welsh Government's response to Bluetongue,' said Mr Chadwick.
'The Liberal Democrats have been repeatedly highlighting how the current system is completely unworkable and not financially viable for local farmers, especially as we approach breeding season at the end of summer.
Help support trusted local news
Sign up for a digital subscription now: www.countytimes.co.uk/subscribe
As a digital subscriber you will get
Unlimited access to the County Times website
Advert-light access
Reader rewards
Full access to our app
'The Welsh Government must focus on vaccination and do away with the impractical testing scheme.
'I will continue to ensure I engage with both Welsh and UK Government ministers to make this case and update local farmers on any progress.'
Mr David Chadwick has questioned ministers twice on the issue, as has his Lib Dem colleague from North Shropshire Helen Morgan MP and the Liberal Democrats' Shadow Leader of the House of Commons Marie Goldman MP.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South Wales Argus
13 minutes ago
- South Wales Argus
Green Party peer says she will vote against proscribing Palestine Action
During a talk at Glastonbury Festival's Speakers Forum with Palestine Action activist Francesca Nadin, Baroness Jenny Jones said people inside the Lords had told her she 'should not be sharing a platform' with the group, but she added she was 'proud' to be with them. It comes after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said she would proscribe Palestine Action and would lay an order before Parliament in the coming days to make membership and support for them illegal, after a number of the group's members vandalised two planes at RAF Brize Norton in Oxfordshire. Following the talk, Baroness Jones told the PA news agency: 'I've worked on policing issues, civil liberties and protests for more than 25 years, and I know very clearly, very well, that what the Government is doing to Palestine Action is not a legal act. Baroness Jones made the comments during a talk at Glastonbury Festival (Yui Mok/PA) 'They are not a terrorist organisation and, to be honest, if the Government proscribes them, there's going to be an outcry. 'Presumably, the legislation will come to the House of Lords, and I will definitely vote against it. 'It is bizarre, because it almost looks as if the Government is frightened of protest. I mean, that's something that I've seen with the Conservative government, but now with the Labour Government, we're seeing it as well. 'They actually don't like opposition of any sort, and that's not democracy, and what they are planning to do is not democratic.' The 75-year-old said the group, along with fellow activist organisation Youth Demand, 'represent an energy and a future that quite honestly is beyond me at the moment', adding she was 'furious' with the Government during the talk. She told PA: 'If some of us in the House of Lords vote against proscribing Palestine Action, will that make us liable for prosecution in some way or another? 'They've got a huge number of supporters, 250,000 at least, and I'm sure this particular action by the Government will give them even more supporters. 'The Government is going to find it very difficult to suppress the protest.' Baroness Jones spoke as Irish rap trio Kneecap, who have seen one of their members charged with a terror offence, prepare to perform on the West Holts Stage at 4pm on Saturday. Before the festival, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said it would not be 'appropriate' for them to perform their slot at Worthy Farm. Rapper Liam Og O hAnnaidh was charged for allegedly displaying a flag in support of proscribed terrorist organisation Hezbollah at a gig in London in November last year. Last week, the 27-year-old, who performs under the stage name Mo Chara, was cheered by hundreds of supporters as he arrived with bandmates Naoise O Caireallain and JJ O Dochartaigh at Westminster Magistrates' Court in 'Free Mo Chara' T-shirts. He was released on unconditional bail until his next hearing at the same court on August 20. On Thursday evening, the rap trio posted a film to social media, titled Stop The Genocide, which includes testimonies from a Palestinian activist and plastic surgeon on the war in Gaza.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
PM 'agrees' benefit changes deal with Labour rebels
The government is expected to announce a deal shortly with Labour rebels on its planned benefits changes. Multiple sources tell the BBC existing claimants of the Personal Independence Payment (Pip) will continue to receive what they currently get, as will recipients of the health element of Universal Credit. It is also expected that the support to help people into employment will be fast forwarded so it happens concessions amount to a massive climbdown from the government, which was staring at the prospect of defeat if it failed to accommodate the demands of over 100 of its backbenchers. Sign up for our Politics Essential newsletter to keep up with the inner workings of Westminster and beyond.
Telegraph
2 hours ago
- Telegraph
‘Never Here' Keir's lack of face-time whips up biggest rebellion of his career
MPs and their staff gathered on the House of Commons terrace on Thursday, brought together by cheap drinks, a splendid view of the Thames and a desire to shake off the drama of the week in Westminster. Sir Keir Starmer, facing the biggest rebellion of his premiership, was nowhere to be seen. 'You don't see him on the terrace,' a minister said, reflecting a frustration among Labour MPs that so-called 'face time' with the Prime Minister has been seriously lacking since his election win last July. 'A lot of the MPs elected last year don't know him, they haven't met him, and they don't have a pre-existing relationship with him,' they said. 'That means they don't really have loyalty to him. He and his allies haven't reached out to build those relationships.' Downing Street's obvious shortcomings in 'party management' were laid bare this week, when more than 120 Labour MPs signed an amendment that would kill off Sir Keir's welfare reforms. Sources said No 10 staff were taken aback by the scale of the revolt, which threatens to force a government defeat on Tuesday. It would be an embarrassing and troubling moment for Sir Keir, who has a majority of 156 seats and believed, until recently, that he did not need to spend time in Parliament hobnobbing with his colleagues. Data show that he has voted just seven times in Parliament since last July – missing a vital opportunity to spend time in the division lobbies, talking to Labour MPs and hearing their concerns. In their first year in office, the previous four Tory prime ministers each voted at least 22 times. Sir Tony Blair and Gordon Brown, Sir Keir's Labour predecessors, voted 13 times and 41 times in their first year, respectively. This week's welfare rebels say they are just as angry about the lack of care from Downing Street as they are about the Government's policy – to reduce the number of people who can claim disability and sickness benefits. The frustration with Sir Keir's lack of engagement is making the rebellion even worse. 'He's a fundamentally unsociable person,' said one MP who plans to vote against the Government's bill next week. 'It wouldn't take a lot, even just a text now and then, to know that he cared.' Defenders of Sir Keir say he has had an extraordinarily hectic first year in government, managing a long list of foreign trips that have seen him dubbed 'never here Keir'. Those visits have paid dividends in the form of three trade deals, a leadership role in the 'coalition of the willing' and a friendship with Donald Trump. But critics in the party say that Sir Keir must remember that his position in No10 is based on support among Labour MPs, not foreign leaders. 'It's been noticed and there's a lot of resentment in the party towards Keir, in that people don't feel seen, loved and heard,' said one Labour MP. Veterans of party management in the Commons say that the prime minister's personal touch is crucial in maintaining a happy party – and winning votes. Bob Blackman, the chairman of the Conservative Party's 1922 Committee of backbench MPs, said that the most important thing is for the prime minister to be available to backbenchers when they vote. 'Starmer has only voted seven times in the last year,' he said. 'When you're in the lobbies, you get the chance to say, 'Can I have a quick word, PM?', and you catch up. 'That's one of the ways that the PM can glad-hand people and let them let off some steam. 'If you're not in the Commons and the tearoom making yourself visible and available to backbenchers, then they feel estranged from the PM and get terribly frustrated.' Mr Blackman served as the committee's executive secretary from 2012 to 2024, overseeing dozens of rebellions against Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Liz Truss from Tory MPs. He said that when the anger was rising among MPs, he would advise the chief whip that 'the PM needs to go into the tearoom after PMQs and have a bite to eat and a cup of tea'. 'That's quite important in the whole scheme of things, and to my knowledge Starmer doesn't do that at all,' he said. Among Labour MPs, some of the blame has been placed on Claire Reynolds, Sir Keir's political secretary, who is in charge of maintaining good relations with backbenchers. They point out that some Labour MPs have never even met the prime minister – a sign that she has not been doing her job properly. Neil Duncan-Jordan, one of the Labour backbenchers to have signalled their opposition to the Government's benefit cuts, was asked by BBC Radio 5 Live's Matt Chorley if he had ever had any contact with Sir Keir. 'Never had a conversation with him' 'No,' he said. 'I think there's a handful of us. Obviously I've been in the chamber when he's been in, answering questions and so on and so forth, but I've never actually had a conversation with him.' Sir Anthony Seldon, the political historian, said a hands-off approach to Parliament was becoming an increasingly common phenomenon among British prime ministers. 'The trend is for prime ministers to do it less and less, and it is because the job has become more demanding, because Parliament is no longer the theatre that it was,' he said. He said the modern prime minister's time is taken up with 'overseas duties and dealing with the media', making Parliament more 'marginal' to Downing Street. But he warned: 'At the end of the day, prime ministers don't fall because they lose the support of The Telegraph or the BBC, or GB News. They fall because they lose support of Parliament.' One notable exception to that rule is Sir Keir's political hero, Sir Tony, who stood down after 10 years in power to make way for Mr Brown. Sir Tony also had little interest in attending parliamentary debates and votes, and told MPs that at the end of his last Prime Minister's Questions in June 2007. 'I have never pretended to be a great House of Commons man, but I pay the House the greatest compliment I can by saying that, from first to last, I never stopped fearing it,' he said.
