A storm before Recess

On 23 July, just before Parliament rose for Recess but with no abatement in the Westminster Brexit drama, our latest Food Brexit Briefing appeared – and generated a storm of interest when the authors, Professors Tim Lang, Terry Marsden and Erik Millstone, plus CIEH’s head of policy Tony Lewis, reported the fact that they had been told by a senior government adviser that food regulations might be ‘suspended’ to keep food flowing into the country in the event of a hard Brexit. This might look like good emergency planning, the authors observe; but it would pose serious risks to both consumer safety and the ability of UK producers to export their goods. Feeding Britain: Food Security after Brexit tackles three themes that demand urgent attention.  The first is whether food is attracting enough notice in Brexit negotiations, given its importance to wellbeing and the economy. The second is the threat a careless Brexit poses to the UK’s food security – and the related need to have a new policy for the UK’s food system, from agriculture to consumption, which is genuinely sustainable, Brexit or no Brexit. The third is the risk generated, to the UK’s status as a potential trading partner of the EU, by conducting major reform of UK food safety regulation at the very time when regulatory stability and reliability are essential to underpin the Brexit process.