Liberal Democrat Candidates discuss CAP reform at Staffordshire County Show

5.08.34pm UTC (GMT +0000) Thu 3rd Jun 2004

West Midlands Liberal Democrat European Election Candidates Liz Lynne MEP, and Staffordshire Councillor Phil Bennion were among the large number of people at the Staffordshire County Show this week.

They went to meet and talk to representatives of NFU, C.L.A, DEFRA, Heart of England Fine Foods.

Speaking following their visit Liz Lynne MEP said:

"It is important to come to the Staffordshire County Show to be able to talk different groups involved in Staffordshire at the one event. It is of course dominated by agricultural events and I am keen to talk to farmers given that at long last we have movement on CAP reform in the European Parliament.

"Liberal Democrats very much support the interests of rural communities, family farms and the rural environment. We must also make sure that any new legislation that is passed at EU level is subject to full comprehensive impact assessments, and that existing legislation is implemented equally across the EU, to create a level playing field for our farmers."

Staffordshire Councillor Phil Bennion said:

"We met Vice President Meurig Raymond. We discussed the needs for farmers in the UK to remain competitive. I agree with him that it is important to ensure that the recent CAP reform does not result in a big increase in set-aside. It would be environmentally indefensible for food production to be cut back in Europe so that rainforest can be cleared in South America to replace the production.

"It is also vital that the freedom given to member states to direct farm funding is used by the UK government to best effect. It is important that any public funding should benefit the public by making payments linked to maintaining the countryside rather than production but at the same time make sure they are not tied up in so much red tape and regulation that they cannot respond."

ENDS