UKICE: Had you anticipated the Leave vote, from where you live and from all the meetings youd been having during the referendum campaign? And everybody was adamant that we could not have a border on the island of Ireland. We are really asking Defra to keep looking at the impact assessments. Minette Batters net worth Feb, 2023 - People Ai There have been challenges. All rights reserved. But what I did see very quickly with Michael was someone who was very prepared to dive down into every area of technical detail and grasp it. We were hearing the mantra of its going to be great because its going to be cheaper. They still are. Effectively, thats what weve got now, with the Trade Cooperation Agreement. What we wanted to do primarily was to open doors, doors that were shut due to some seeing agriculture as a problem. UKICE: Weve heard about asparagus rotting in the fields, strawberries unpicked, daffodils unpicked. And now, within the Agricultural Act of 2020, the Secretary of State for Defra has access to a multi-annual plan. So, we put our energies into that, rather than trying to stop anything or have another referendum. Minette describes herself as an exploratory writer who never uses a plot scheme, begins with simple premises, has no idea whodunit until halfway through a story, but who remains excited about each novel because she, along with her reader, wants to know what happens next. During a gap year between school and Durham University, 1968, Minette volunteered in Israel with The Bridge in Britain, working on a kibbutz and in a delinquent boys home in Jerusalem. MB: Really concerned. UKICE: When you saw the Northern Ireland Protocol that the Prime Minister had agreed to, did you anticipate that it was going to cause what appeared to be quite a lot of problems for east-west trade in agrifood products? Which is very similar to what they do in countries like Australia and America. The NFU wanted MPs to have more say on trade of agrifood. The daffodil-growers in Cornwall will have faced enormous losses. I sat back down next to him and I said, What do you think? And he looked at me, slightly surprised, and he said, I think youre very brave. Her first full-length novel, The Ice House, was published in 1992. So, I continue to hold them to account on that. Its a massively significant employer. We brought a massive coalition together of all farming organisations, nearly every NGO that is out there animal welfare experts, consumer groups, Jamie Oliver, Raymond Blanc, Prue Leith. So, that is why we want you to be part of the SPS area. The first country to implement animal welfare legislation was the UK. South West farmers say 'beef doesn't have to cost the earth It means that the future absolutely has to be got right, and delivery has to work. So, in June 2020 we had over a million people in two weeks saying, Weve got to have a Trade and Agriculture Commission, MPs have got to be able to have their say. Do you think it signalled a significant change of direction? So, thats what we did in that very first instance. California probably has higher standards than many parts of Europe. How did you find dealing with the new team, compared to the May team? Beat government by ten years? Webminette batters family. Those principles would guide the discussion. But Defra, government, really only focused on bail-out packages in a no deal scenario, that would allow farmers to effectively restructure. Movies. In order to work through a process, people had to understand the technical detail that underpinned all of this. To get to wholesale ways of trading, whereby you have one truck full of one thing, is going to be easier to resolve. Minette Batters The gnarly issues that remain today are still to be resolved, and who knows how we will resolve them. UKICE: We talked a bit earlier about the establishment of the Department for International Trade. National Farmers' Union president Minette Batters has urged ministers to tackle an absolute crisis in the food sector, saying that she is determined to solve this situation. dune fremen language translator. They have two sons: Roland, who is married to Charlotte, and Philip, who is married to Sarah: and three granddaughters: Madeleine, Martha and Hermione. I have to say, at that time, that was so needed, because we had to work through a process. Our focus was always based on what agriculture needed. At the end of the day, this will land on the Prime Ministers desk as to which way he wants to go. Which, of course, it should never have been, because that was about food safety and what we were wanting to talk about was food values, and the laws of our land. Menu. MB: Well, Brexit wont be felt until its happened, but the impact hasnt happened yet. And I think George Eustice described this as seeing me have a sort of nuclear moment, where I nearly erupted through the ceiling. [citation needed]. And at the moment, what we are finding is that there are so many moving parts to the level of engagement with different trading partners. Above all else, I want to see honesty to farmers about the road that they are on from our political leaders. Its not perfect by any means. MB: In the end, as Deputy President of the NFU, I did take a public position, which was that, on the information we had, we would be better off remaining in the EU. Photograph: Adrian UKICE: One way of making that operation much easier would have been to sign up to alignment, or greater alignment, on SPS in the TCA, but none of that really seemed to come to fruition. Minette Batters The romantic novelettes were written in approximately two weeks and published under a pseudonym that remains a secret. Of course, the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP) believed so strongly in Brexit. Were you at all engaged in the discussions there, or were you very surprised when the Government suddenly unveiled that as its preferred approach? Top $76,000-a-year New Jersey boarding school admits 'more should have been done' to stop bullying of boy, 17, who took his own life after being falsely accused of rape by cruel peers We convened our council, our sovereign body, again, at a special meeting in London. Were you very engaged with what the UK was looking for in the TCA on that? Well, that will be really, really damaging. Minette Batters: I feared farmers would be used as a pawn in How worried were you that the Government was very keen on a deal with the US? So, that was the conversation, literally, with Theresa May she hadnt realised how complex SPS was. So, it was never about an unfair approach and it was never about a protectionist approach. Youve got Defra, effectively, leading on border controls and things like export health certificates. NFU President Minette Batters UK egg production has fallen to its lowest level in nine years. Minette Batters Walters's second novel, The Sculptress, which was inspired in part by an encounter Walters had as a volunteer prison visitor,[2] won the Mystery Writers of America Edgar Award. Theyve got a lot to do. And how is the state going to be able to pay for them to effectively just plant trees? Were still developing the thinking, still influencing, and with the academics and the science community working with us, we are making huge progress. Minette Batters on Henry Plumb President of the NFU Minette Batters champions the life of Henry Plumb, Lord Plumb, who was the only British president of the MB: I dont think we should underestimate the challenge you refer to of, not only piloting policy, but piloting delivery. What difference did it make to you in engaging with the Government when Michael Gove, on rehabilitation into the Cabinet, took over from Andrea Leadsom, and started to make a lot of noise about what post-Brexit policy might look like? And of course, a lot of European workers were working within the food and farming sector, so that very quickly became, like trade, one of the things that we had taken for granted, that we were now very aware we couldnt take for granted anymore. There isnt a silver bullet, but ignoring the situation and saying it isnt important is not a way forwards. UKICE: The perception, for those of us that dont know, is that a lot of farmers did vote Leave, partly because they just hated the bureaucracy of the Common Agricultural Policy, and thought it got in their way. Given he was one of the greatest proponents in the Brexit debate, of isnt it great, food is going to be cheaper. Lovely to listen while running through Oxfordshire farms. WebIt's St George's Day, and that marks the start of Ladies in Beef, Great British Beef Week! Find ratings and reviews for the newest movie and TV shows. What we feel is that the dialogue must bring a pragmatic solution at some stage. under option with Company Pictures. Officials suddenly became very energised, because they had someone who was really digging in on every area of detail. Its a tense time right now. BBC Radio 4 - Great Lives, Minette Batters on Henry Plumb If government is going to introduce legislation on higher welfare, it needs to effectively put its money where its mouth is, and make sure that our procurement is only sourcing at those standards. UKICE: You seemed to have managed to at least persuade Michael Gove, Secretary of State, of some of that, because he was on the other side of that argument with DIT that summer. The fundamentals that we had taken for granted free and frictionless access to the largest trading block in the world, and free movement of people, which gave us access to a competent and reliable workforce were front and centre. But it was always going to need a bespoke model. minette batters But its a classic case of, youve got to pitch people. minette batters Did you think, I need this like a hole in the head, I could just go back to my farm and live a quiet life, rather than get stuck into this political morass? But does the farming industry feel that its adapting okay, or are there surprising new challenges, unanticipated challenges, emerging? Some of which, like David Frost, its been impossible to meet. MB: I think it was a phenomenal rebrand for the department, really. MB: I think innovation and research and development, effectively, are at the heart of everything, and certainly at the heart of getting to net zero. At the moment, their demand is that we sign up to follow EU rules and the Government, as you know, is clear that we will not sign up to that. Still, what keeps me awake at night is this desire to raise standards here. airline pilot retirement age 70; what happened to mark reilly strong island; east carolina dean's list spring 2021; the frequency table shows the distribution of 1,200 students; lessons on stealing for students; How concerned were you about that part, as well as the trade side? Contact: Agent | Publisher | General inquiries. The EU are now really having these positive conversations, and the Commission has come out positively, saying, Actually, on plant breeding, weve got to look at the opportunities around that resistant crop. Her novels are often set against real backgrounds and real events to draw her readers into the 'reality' of what she is writing about. 48-52% was always going to be challenging, divisive, but to have another referendum, we didnt believe would have made any difference at all. WebAccording to the latest Twitter stat on 2023-02-11, Minette Batters has a total favourites count of 10625 on the Twitter account and Minette Batters has 22.3 Thousand followers National Farmers Union seeks guarantee Brexit So, the need for the NFU to get this right, to not drop a ball, to be focused on what is needed, to be the lobbyist extraordinaire ultimately, the weight of that falling on my shoulders has felt like a massive responsibility. And Chequers definitely gave way to those conversations happening in a constructive manner, without doubt. So, a no deal and I will stand by it forever and a day would have been absolutely disastrous for British agriculture. That was a manifesto commitment, dont forget, in the 2019 election not to undermine our farmers in future FTAs. Has farming and agriculture gone up the government agenda in prominence, now that its not just an obscure Agriculture Council that nobody really can understand, that comes back with a protected budget that gets implemented? This arguably makes her the most powerful farmer in the UK; she The authoritative source for independent research on UK-EU relations, President, National Farmers Union February 2018 Present, Deputy President, National Farmers Union February 2014 February 2018. So, having been the preferred destination for European seasonal workers to come to, we now had this huge challenge that we were going to pull up the drawbridge. On 37 March 2008, BBC2 aired Murder Most Famous,[4] a five-part TV talent contest series, in which Walters tutors and judges six competing celebrity writers, with the winner having his or her crime fiction novel published by Pan Macmillan on World Book Day 2009. minette batters Everybody was putting down these legal markers, effectively. Her third novel, The Scolds Bridle, then won the CWA Gold Dagger, giving her a unique treble. Or did you, at that stage, think, This is so catastrophic, its just not going to happen? Weve obviously got a lot of trucks coming over and a lot of trucks going back empty. Dont forget, Michael Gove did not hold back in this arena, he is well documented and publicised. Thats what I remember most, nobody saying anything. So, lets talk about food, lets talk about the environment, animal welfare. That is going to be, I think, quite a challenge, especially on the back of Covid, in terms of making the case for future investment. I definitely felt that was a moment in time. Matthew Parris asks Minette about the challenges of balancing her work with the day-to-day demands of farming and what impact Lord Plumb made on British life. Theyve been long-term involved in the impact assessment for these trade deals, so they know what is needed. minette batters [7], In addition to full-length novels, Walters has written feature articles for magazines and the broadsheets, some short stories including "English Autumn, American Fall", and two novellas, The Tinder Box (1999), and Chickenfeed (2006). Things could go massively The dexterity of the human hand was essential. [5] The first of these novels is The Last Hours, set during the Black Death, followed by a sequel, The Turn of Midnight. So, once youd gone by those, you were into a no deal scenario by default. MB: I think, genuinely, probably nobody wanted it to play out how its played out, which has been long and protracted and divisive. How were you involved in no deal preparations? What was your expectation about how the Government would involve farming representatives in the development of their position on Brexit, going forward? We need a really transparent approach to how agriculture fits in all of this. So that, with as free and frictionless trade as could be achieved, was something that we all believed in then and we all believe in now. Again, it was the engagement with Number 10 that got the global seasonal scheme of 30,000 over the line. How does it feel for the industry? MB: I think, bearing in mind how vital our market is to them, they could see that it allowed a way through. We had implemented laws that were based on food values, and yet we werent prepared to look at that in other parts of the world. Of course, dont forget, then Covid-19 is hogging the news agenda, so its even harder to get your voice heard. Minette Batters: Brexit has been a face-slapping moment for Views expressed in this piece are those of the author(s) and are not necessarily those of UK in a Changing Europe. It was around that time, and certainly when I came in, that I said, Weve got to start talking food, because food is what resonates with people, farming doesnt. But weve got to be able to do it in a way that has the right policies in place to deliver whats needed. Minette Batters became the first woman to hold the top job at the organisation, which represents more than 50,000 farmers in England and Wales. UKICE: Did you get a sense that government actually appreciated the lengths of those lead times in farming? UKICE: But its also consulting, isnt it, on gene editing and other issues like that, which the Government sees as a big new possibility to appear more open to innovation than the EU. It would help if we could speak to those who are leading these discussions. Exports are down though, with specialist cheesemakers and products such as fresh cream taking a massive hit. Im not so sure. Australia can move livestock not only across the country but across seas, thousands and thousands of kilometres, and we have just banned it here. MB: Well, it was well known, my constant mantra on no deal being catastrophic for farmers. But that F4 group is still trying to work through these thorny areas. We went to Wageningen University, a world leading Dutch University with experience in running agricultural trade models. Walters's third novel, The Scold's Bridle, then won the CWA Gold Dagger, giving her a unique treble. Or was it like the rest of the population, where views seemed to be fairly entrenched? If you want to find a solution, youve got to pitch them as a solution and youve got to work out what that actually looks like. So a no deal meant that we would be dealing with the EU the same way as we would be dealing with the rest of the world in the absence of any trade deals. I remember going to bed on referendum night and texting our Director of Strategy, Martin Howarth, who has been with the NFU a long time, and was in our London Office. Yet, we were seeing no sign of deregulating. That isnt going to happen overnight, because weve actively pushed people away from doing those jobs. And of course, we still had the Wageningen work, which proved to be pivotal in having those discussions, and the principles. We know that farmers took different views on the referendum, what were people really thinking about in that run-up to the 2016 referendum? But Chequers, with its common rule book, allowed for that situation with the island of Ireland to be avoided, and it potentially paved the way for us to transition into an international trading relationship, but with the complexity of the deal with the EU and the UK sorted. I think we all knew what problems were coming, but I think the challenge was, what was going to be done about them? We do have to be all things to all men, whether its arable, livestock, dairy, horticulture plus all those cross-cutting issues of environment, land use, tenancy issues. Ms We knew it would be a lose-lose to try and lobby, effectively, for a race to the bottom. You dont mention food production, you dont mention agriculture, all youre mentioning is the environment. At the moment, the Crown Commercial Service contract for the NHS, for prisons, schools, is set so low that you cant even get fresh produce into it, let alone free-range eggs. We had an extraordinary meeting of our council, which is our sovereign body, made up of two representatives, effectively, from every county across England and Wales. minette batters Minette has written another entry in the Quick Reads series entitled A Dreadful Murder for World Book Day 2013. It was ideology based on three principles: A bonfire of regulation, the easiest trade deal in history, and more money for UK priorities, because we wouldnt be paying it into the EU. That in itself was controversial with some of our members, but the expertise wasnt in the UK, economic analysis of trade deals was something the European Commission was responsible for. They have two sons, Roland and Philip. Or did they think it was just a completely unacceptable attempt to cherry-pick the single market? Minette joined IPC Magazines as a sub-editor in 1972 and became an editor of Womans Weekly Library the following year. Youve got all the challenges with Stranraer and other places about access points. And why did you decide on your ultimate tactic, as we headed towards the referendum? minette batters There are a lot of things that need to be done. What we must avoid is a two-tier food system. Michael Gove was perhaps not in his most ideal Cabinet seat, but I think he did manage to rebrand himself with what had been deemed to be a graveyard department, to the benefit of the department. So, influencing is going to be important. Go to them, saying, This is the solution to that problem. When that government came in in December 2019, there was, I felt, quite a bit of rebuilding to do with backbench MPs because of Brexit. Walters joined IPC Magazines as a sub-editor in 1972 and became an editor of Woman's Weekly Library the following year. So, we supported Chequers, as, interestingly, did Michael Gove. What does that look like?. Scotland is talking about maintaining the same levels of direct support, so an area-based payment linked to sustainable farming. 2001 The CWA Gold Dagger Award (shortlist): 2006 Quick Reads Learners' Favourite award: 2007 Coventry Inspiration Book Award: This page was last edited on 5 April 2023, at 20:13. That was the frustration. Minette Batters, NFU President NFUonline This is what Michael kicked off, effectively, with David Rutley, in the very beginning. Here's some advice. Webdid they ever find laci head fale com a gente. At the moment, I feel weve got a lot of warm words, and we just need to know the nuts and bolts of what the genuine ambition is for this country. We were put under a lot of pressure at various times to be part of the Peoples Vote, and call for another referendum. I think most definitely, in the run-up to those no deals, many farmers were thinking, This really does look terrifying. We need to work collaboratively to incentivise a UK workforce. Minette Batters Weve legislated to achieve net zero, but there is so much that can be achieved through new policy thinking as to what that looks like, and ultimately, our opportunity to influence European thinking. I think its essential that we can meet with him, bearing in mind weve still got active engagement with member states trying to resolve these issues. Minette Batters She supplemented her salary by writing romantic novelettes, short stories, and serials in her We focused all our lobbying on, I guess, the outcomes that we wanted to see achieved, not our means of getting there by some of the existing avenues; the Single Market, customs union, EFTA. Joanna Partridge NFU president Minette Batters on her farm in south Wiltshire with her Simmental cross cattle and dog, Basil. We knew that, during Theresa Mays time at the Home Office, she ended the global scheme, and that had been an exemplar scheme. Wales is almost in a slightly more similar position to England. And a support aid budget of 3bn, a lot of talk is made about that. Still, the same Chequers discussions are being played out. UKICE: Chequers obviously didnt go anywhere and sunk at the Salzburg Summit, but Theresa May does land a Withdrawal Agreement and Parliament is not passing it. We needed to be able to work together, to shape what the future needed to look like. I remember reading the Defra press release the night before that interview, and it was a heart-stopping moment for me. But for us, all the way through, it was about fairness, and making sure that trade was fair. The NFU launched a levelling-up report, because when we look at the whole levelling-up agenda, it cant just be about north versus south, weve got to look at opportunity across the whole country. Minette Batters Wiki, Biography, Age, Career, Whitehall has driven so much of EU rules and regulations for agriculture and the environment, so when we bring it back home, weve got to be able to make sure that it works across those four countries. MB: It was a worry in the context of how it was set out. If we go and dilute that massively, and have a flood of much cheaper imports, that is obviously going to undermine our farmers. So, there were, along this journey, some slightly heart-stopping moments, as to the road that we were on. In a farming business, when youre looking at the long-term, youre putting rams with the sheep, youre putting bulls with cows, youre planting crops, all of which are focused on the following year, so youre having to plan a long time ahead. What is needed?. I dont think DIT and Defra are aligned in their thinking. The National Farmers' Union (NFU) is demanding a written guarantee from the government that Brexit won't undermine British farming standards. UK in a Changing Europe (UKICE): You have a Conservative leadership battle that ends up with Theresa May becoming Prime Minister. We cant have one standard for one and not for another. Her third historical novel, The Swift and the Harrier, was published in 2021. We wanted MPs to be able to know all aspects of those free trade agreements, what was in them, what the impact would be, and we wanted them, ultimately, to have the final say. It has also been translated into several languages. Weve worked very closely with them throughout, so weve always known that it is a very, very difficult area. So, there is a lot of water, I would say, to go under the bridge before that question can be answered. Its obviously still a strange time, because weve still got Covid. Knowing where the Treasury had been, having made clear over the last 11 years that if there was the chance, they would remove direct support payments to farmers, we also wanted to know what that would look like. Or did you think it was a clever solution to a seemingly intractable problem?