And just like that, the Burnham era is already upon us. That’s often the way it goes in politics, and when it comes to winning and losing elections – at any level – there’s often no room for sentiment.
Britain has now had seven different Prime Ministers since the seismic Brexit referendum in June 2016, and although the general public is just as weary of the constant chopping and changing of administrations as the business sector is, the advent of the Burnham era offers the latter a chance for a reset, two years on from Labour’s landslide victory.
So, how will Andy Burnham’s uncontested rise to power impact the British food and drink industry, if at all?
Well, the initial signs suggest that he might shake things up considerably more than his predecessor, with a slew of policy announcements over the past week, including a 20% cut in business rates for pubs, social clubs and live music venues across England, as well as a commitment to protect national production and self-sufficiency in strategic sectors such as agri-food.
But what does the industry make of the new man at the helm, and more importantly, what does he need to do to get them onside?
Resilience must be a priority
For the FDF’s director of growth and sustainability, Balwinder Dhoot, the new PM must focus his efforts on resilience.
“Having faced years of persistent regulatory pressure and major global supply chain and energy shocks, the resilience of the UK’s food and drink manufacturing sector has been stretched thin,” he said.
“The new Prime Minister must prioritise the resilience of the food system. How does he do that? By creating the conditions for investment in technology, future-facing skills and decarbonisation in domestic production and also by reducing the cost of making food in the UK through simplifying and better sequencing regulation.”
As Dhoot outlined, an onslaught of new red tape, including the SPS agreement, EPR and DRS, aimed at making the sector greener and more trade more efficiency, has also heaped costs onto businesses and raised food prices.
But he believes a concerted effort to support investment into the sector will “go some way” in tackling the UK’s national and household food security; helping families, while driving prosperity in the communities across the country where food and drink manufacturers are based.
NFU president, Tom Bradshaw, shared similar ideas: “British farmers and growers are the bedrock of the nation’s food security, putting food on the plates of 28 million households every day. Yet while governments rightly treat defence and energy security as national priorities, food security has too often been overlooked.
“As he takes office, Prime Minister Burnham has an opportunity to turn Labour’s commitment in its manifesto that ‘food security is national security’ into meaningful action. With the right policy framework, farmers and growers can drive growth in every constituency, strengthen the UK’s resilience and help ease pressure on households.
“As he further develops his plan for government, Prime Minister Burnham can take immediate action by backing a planning system that unlocks investment, regulation that drives innovation and growth and ensuring there’s the workforce available farming and growing businesses need to thrive. Together, these measures would help build a more resilient food system and we stand ready to work with the government to deliver them.”
New lead for the British Meat Processors Association, John Powell, has also raised resilience, among other areas, as a matter of urgent attention in a recent letter to the new PM.
On that point, the letter reads as follows: “We would also propose that you consider convening, as many of your predecessors have done, a UK Farming and Food Summit to consider the current situation on food security and how we can continue to feed the nation, not least following a few years of turbulence in supply chains as a result of global events.”
Fight food insecurity
The Food Foundation’s, executive director, Anna Taylor, also flagged resilience as a priority, with a focus on household resilience.
“Two years on from Labour coming into power and one year since the government published its ambitions for a Good Food Cycle, food insecurity levels in the UK remain unacceptably high,” she said.
“International conflict and unprecedented weather patterns are forecast to drive food prices up even further by the end of the year.
“The new Prime Minister must take bold steps to ensure everyone can afford and access a healthy diet.”
The Food Foundation has published a list of recommendations on what bold steps Burnham should take. This includes the introduction of a support package for low-income families, better support for local authorities, and a Good Food Bill that includes legally binding targets for food insecurity, fruit and veg consumption, and obesity.
“We need urgent action to ensure the most vulnerable families are protected, and a Good Food Bill that sets out a long-term statutory framework for building public health and national and household resilience,” Taylor added.
Enforced healthy food sales reporting
Policy and advocacy lead for the Obesity Health Alliance, Beth Bradshaw, says if Burnham is “serious about building a more preventative state” he needs to get serious about what consumers are eating.
To this end, Bradshaw wants to see the launch of a formal consultation on mandatory reporting of the healthiness of food sales and the recommitment to implementing the Healthier Food Standard in full this Parliament, including both reporting and health targets.
“This would create a level playing field for businesses and drive improvements across the food industry,” she contended.
“Implemented in full, the policy could reduce childhood obesity by around 23% within five years of the target being reached, helping to improve health and reduce pressure on public services.”
One coherent plan
Alongside a UK Farming and Food Summit, BMPA’s Powell has also called on the PM to bring together the many strategies that Defra has recently issued into “one coherent plan for the farming and food sectors”.
He requests that wider government strategies and policies (such as planning reform, access to labour, skills, training and apprenticeships and industrial policy) take better account of and link to the food and farming sectors.
The BMPA boss also stresses the need for a representative of the UK processing (which covers meat, milk, poultry and eggs) sector to be appointed to the Government’s Food and Farming Partnership Board, ensuring it “truly represents the whole of the supply chain”.
Trade issues
Both BMPA and the Association of Independent Meat Suppliers, have also called for the rapid completion of a comprehensive SPS agreement with the European Union; and improved access to overseas markets.
AIMS’ head of communications, Tony Goodger, specifically calls for better access to markets in Asia to include halal into Indonesia, beef and lamb into China and total Middle East access.
Goodger urges the PM to look beyond premium red meat and poultry to offal and pet food too, while also calling for a clear stand on Halal processing.
Goodger warns that if the Government doesn’t heed the advice of the AIMS list, which includes several other points such as farming and food to be added into the Industrial Strategy, they’ll be left thinking “if only we’d listened”.
