The Dairy Industry Woman of the Year Award, sponsored by HSBC, will once again be awarded at the national Women in Dairy conference next month. Presented to the individual who has demonstrated the core values of Women in Dairy – connect, share and inspire – the award aims to celebrate the achievements of women in the British dairy industry.
Boris Johnson was appointed as our new Prime Minister last week and with that comes a brand new cabinet that sees Theresa Villiers take up the position of Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, someone who has previously said she would support a no-deal Brexit. Regardless of Mr Johnson’s chosen cabinet we know that he is a devout leave campaigner and has said on more than one occasion that we will leave the European Union ‘come what may’ on 31 October.
The Government has issued the following fact sheet for livestock farmers:
The Government remains focused on ensuring a smooth and orderly withdrawal from the EU, with a deal, as soon as possible.
An extension has been agreed with the EU until 31 October 2019 at the latest, with the option to leave earlier as soon as a deal has been ratified. If a deal is ratified by both sides before that date, the UK will leave the EU earlier and in that case would leave with a deal.
The Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) has continued to prepare and consider the key issues for its stakeholders under all Brexit scenarios.
We have prepared this guide to help ensure that farmers and food producers know what they can do to prepare. The preparation work at Defra, from maintaining trade continuity to ensuring that EU workers can still travel to the UK to work on our farms, is significant.
We would ask you to share this within your networks and with stakeholders, to help the farming and wider agriculture sector to prepare for when the UK leaves the EU.
We will also continue to update our advice on how people should prepare at www.gov.uk/euexitfarming
