Farmers first

The UK’s dairy farmers have managed to get the Government - in the shape of its farming minister Jim Paice - to intervene in their milk-prices dispute with processors and retailers.

Over the last few weeks, thousands of farmers have been blockading major dairies, such as those of Robert Wiseman Dairies and Arla Foods, in protest at being paid less than what it costs to produce milk.

But as pointed out by Dairy UK, which represents the processors, “the UK industry operates in a globalised market environment that is enormously volatile and we cannot insulate ourselves from world market trends.”

However, a meeting between the two sides has led to a proposed code of practice to help ensure that contracts between farmers and dairy processors are freely negotiated, fairer and more transparent.

Announcing the agreement, the farming minister who chaired the meeting, promised that the Government would “continue to work with all parts of the industry to secure its long-term future …”

Hopefully, Paice and his fellow ministers will do the same for people working at companies in the UK’s chemicals, metal and paper sectors.

Companies in these energy-intensive industries face being driven out of business by the world-highest ‘climate-change’ costs – according to the Government’s own figures (see report)..