‘Food production needs support’

UFU president David Brown said: “Farming and food production must be made an urgent priority by the new PM for the sake of our UK consumers and farmers.

“The Covid-19 pandemic and extreme weather conditions recently stressed just how fragile and crucial local food production is and it must be protected going forward at all costs.

“Like many across the UK, our farmers are struggling with the current cost-of-living crisis – they need support to continue feeding the nation.

“Soaring energy and feed costs are unsustainable and it’s severely impacting farmers’ confidence around food production.

“Government needs to intervene, showing their support for food producers so they can continue to produce high-quality produce farmed to some of the highest animal welfare and environmental standards – the nutritious food that consumers expect on shop shelves.

He added: “To fully support domestic food production, trade policy is a vital aspect that needs to be approached with fairness, ensuring we stay true to the world leading standards our farmers are proud to uphold and maintain local agriculture at its core.

“Locally, the Northern Ireland Protocol is a matter that remains unresolved. Pragmatic solutions need to be found to ensure it is workable for every farming sector in NI. We also need to get our Executive at Stormont back up and running so that vital decisions affecting our farming industry can be made going forward.”

Meanwhile, the Presbyterian and Methodist churches have urged people to pray for the prime minister as she faces “some of the most difficult and complex issues.”

The Council on Social Welfare of the Methodist Church in Ireland said: “Following our Lord, we have particular concern for those who are the most vulnerable in our society and we will pray for our new prime minister as she leads the Government in tackling the ‘cost of living crisis’, with its potentially devastating impact on millions of poorer families.

“We also offer her prayerful support in dealing urgently with the political logjam in Northern Ireland. It is vital that she helps in finding an agreed way of dealing with the Protocol and the return of a functioning Executive at Stormont. “

The Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in Ireland, Right Reverend Dr John Kirkpatrick, has offered his congratulations to Ms Truss adding that her in-tray “contains some of the most difficult and complex issues that have faced the UK and farther afield in a generation”.

He said: “From the cost of living crisis to the war in Ukraine, industrial unrest in Great Britain to record levels of inflation, I recognise that this will be a very challenging time for any new prime minister. Alongside these important issues, I would urge the new government to encourage the formation of the Northern Ireland Executive and resolve matters relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol.”

Dr Kirkpatrick said: “For those of us who are disciples of the Lord Jesus Christ, we are called to pray for those in authority.”