Miliband gets mixed reception from farmers

TWO important speeches on the future of English farming from leading politicians received mixed receptions at a top level conference in Oxford yesterday.

Defra minister David Miliband and Tory leader David Cameron gave key-note speeches in which they gazed into different crystal balls on the future of agriculture. Both promoted "green" farming as part of national planning to reduce greenhouse gasses and improve the environment - but their forecasts mixed good news with bad.

For a rising New Labour star, Miliband - who took over after the disastrous rule of Margaret Beckett - surprisingly hit several high notes in a speech despite a forecast that subsidies for growing food would be phased out in the next decade or so.

But he said that money would be replaced by grants for environmental projects and other support that would allow farming to become profitable again after several years in the doldrums.

This view received praise from an unlikely source, David Fursdon, President of the Country Land and Business Association, who, commented: "David Miliband said much that the CLA applauds: that it is essential for English farming to be profitable and that the planning system needs to enable diversification from farming into new businesses."

But Mr Fursdon also pointed out yet another challenge to the much abused Common Agricultural Policy, saying that the Government wanted to rush these changes into action by 2008/9 - whilst other EU countries were waiting until 2013.

This further outbreak of CAP chaos was highlighted by David Cameron in his speech, who blamed the Prime Minister Tony Blair for giving away too much when he surrendered Britain's EU rebate in return for CAP reforms.

This meant, said the Tory leader that English farmers would lose out on EU subsidies to other nations across the Channel - and because they have their own farming legislation, even Scottish and Welsh farmer would receive more help than their English colleagues.