Up to 100 tractors and other farm vehicles have converged on London's Westminster as farmers protest against “substandard imports and dishonest labelling”, which they say are threatening food security.
The "go-slow" convoy organised by the campaign groups Save British Farming and Fairness for Farmers of Kent is driving around Westminster.
Farmers have organised the protest over their concerns about the increasing difficulties faced by the British farming industry .
They are calling for an end to trade deals that they say are allowing imports of food produced to standards that would be illegal in the UK and are undercutting British farmers.
Organisers also criticise labelling that allows products to bear a Union flag when they have not been grown or reared in Britain.
Wiltshire beef and arable farmer and Save British Farming founder Liz Webster said the situation put food security and the nation’s health at risk.
Trade deals with New Zealand, Australia, and the CPTPP deal with 11 countries including Canada, Japan and Mexico, along with a lack of import checks, were allowing lower-standard foods into the country, Ms Webster said.
British producers had also lost the level playing field with EU farmers and within the UK, she said.
Ms Webster said European farmers were still receiving subsidies, had freedom of movement for labour, and had continued access to British markets, enabling them to undercut farmers in the UK.
She said the current situation was “like going out with the English football team to the World Cup and saying ‘off you go, you’ve got chains on your legs and chains on your hands’.
"We are completely and utterly disadvantaged."
At the same time, the new English agricultural policy of paying farmers for environmental measures such as habitat creation was taking land out of food production, Ms Webster said.
“In 2019, this government was elected with a mandate to uphold our standards and deliver a ready-made deal with the EU which would see British agriculture boom," she said.
“It is now entirely obvious that they have totally betrayed us all.
“Polling shows that the public back British farming and food, and want to maintain our high food standards and support local producers.
“We need a radical change of policy and an urgent exit from these appalling trade deals which will decimate British food.”
Ms Webster criticised the government for changing its trade and agricultural policies, and then not monitoring food security closely enough.
She said the UK could have to compete with other countries for supplies.
And Ms Webster called for alignment with European regulations to support British farmers.
“It’s so important that our message about substandard imports, dishonest labelling and concerns for food security is heard," said Jeff Gibson, founder of Kent Fairness for Farmers.
“With an election looming, we want to ensure the next incoming government takes up our cause.”
Geoffrey Philpott, a cauliflower farmer in east Kent, who took three tractors to the rally, said: “I hope to be farming for many years to come, but if things don’t change, I won’t be and I won’t be employing the 14 people who work for me.
“Then we will be reliant on foreign produce that will not have the high standard of UK production.
“Once that happens, we could be held to ransom over supply and pricing.”
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
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Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 248hp at 5,200rpm
Torque: 400Nm at 1,750-4,000rpm
Transmission: 8-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 9.1L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh149,900
MATCH INFO
Scotland 59 (Tries: Hastings (2), G Horne (3), Turner, Seymour, Barclay, Kinghorn, McInally; Cons: Hastings 8)
Russia 0
UAE gold medallists:
Omar Al Suweidi (46kg), Khaled Al Shehhi (50kg), Khalifa Humaid Al Kaabi (60kg), Omar Al Fadhli (62kg), Mohammed Ali Al Suweidi (66kg), Omar Ahmed Al Hosani (73), all in the U18’s, and Khalid Eskandar Al Blooshi (56kg) in the U21s.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
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SUZUME
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
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- Founder of the Muslim Brotherhood, Hassan al Banna, "accepted the political utility of violence"
- Views of key Muslim Brotherhood ideologue, Sayyid Qutb, have “consistently been understood” as permitting “the use of extreme violence in the pursuit of the perfect Islamic society” and “never been institutionally disowned” by the movement.
- Muslim Brotherhood at all levels has repeatedly defended Hamas attacks against Israel, including the use of suicide bombers and the killing of civilians.
- Laying out the report in the House of Commons, David Cameron told MPs: "The main findings of the review support the conclusion that membership of, association with, or influence by the Muslim Brotherhood should be considered as a possible indicator of extremism."
In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
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Transmission: seven-speed dual clutch
Power: 710bhp
Torque: 770Nm
Speed: 0-100km/h 2.9 seconds
Top Speed: 340km/h
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In Praise of Zayed
A thousand grains of Sand whirl in the sky
To mark the journey of one passer-by
If then a Cavalcade disturbs the scene,
Shall such grains sing before they start to fly?
What man of Honour, and to Honour bred
Will fear to go wherever Truth has led?
For though a Thousand urge him to retreat
He'll laugh, until such counsellors have fled.
Stands always One, defiant and alone
Against the Many, when all Hope has flown.
Then comes the Test; and only then the time
Of reckoning what each can call his own.
History will not forget: that one small Seed
Sufficed to tip the Scales in time of need.
More than a debt, the Emirates owe to Zayed
Their very Souls, from outside influence freed.
No praise from Roderic can increase his Fame.
Steadfastness was the Essence of his name.
The changing years grow Gardens in the Sand
And build new Roads to Sand which stays the same.
But Hearts are not rebuilt, nor Seed resown.
What was, remains, essentially Alone.
Until the Golden Messenger, all-wise,
Calls out: "Come now, my Friend!" - and All is known
- Roderic Fenwick Owen
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
Skoda Superb Specs
Engine: 2-litre TSI petrol
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Price: From Dh147,000
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Opening weekend Premier League fixtures
Weekend of August 10-13
Arsenal v Manchester City
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Fulham v Crystal Palace
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How Islam's view of posthumous transplant surgery changed
Transplants from the deceased have been carried out in hospitals across the globe for decades, but in some countries in the Middle East, including the UAE, the practise was banned until relatively recently.
Opinion has been divided as to whether organ donations from a deceased person is permissible in Islam.
The body is viewed as sacred, during and after death, thus prohibiting cremation and tattoos.
One school of thought viewed the removal of organs after death as equally impermissible.
That view has largely changed, and among scholars and indeed many in society, to be seen as permissible to save another life.
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Getting there
Flydubai flies direct from Dubai to Tbilisi from Dh1,025 return including taxes
