boost resilience, to disease, to automation to harvest crops. and while thanks to you we enjoy good quality food all year round, global events, including russia's invasion of ukraine, have put food security back at the top of the agenda. we will never take our food security for granted. we have a plan to support british farming and we are going further again today in three specific areas. we are investing in farming. we are investing infarming. we we are investing in farming. we promise that across the spa and every penny of the £21; billion annualfarming budget would be every penny of the £21; billion annual farming budget would be spent on you and we will absolutely meet that promise. i know the transition from the common agricultural policy has been frustrating. it has taken time and i appreciate the perception that we didn't always get the balance exactly right but i still believe that the vision is the right

one. cap disproportionately rewarded the landowners and held back smaller farmers, it did little for the environment, it was far too bureaucratic. remember we used to argue about whether a cauliflower and cabbage were the same crop and you could be fined thousands for a gateway being too wide or a buffer strip too narrow so it is right new system invests the foundations of food security from healthy soil to clean water. we are moving in right direction. nearly half of all farmers are now in one of our schemes, schemes designed with you, and they have something for every type of farmer from upminster lowlands, arable to livestock and of course tenants. unlike the labour party we will never introduce mandatory requirements to put a percentage of your land into schemes. norwill we percentage of your land into schemes. nor will we introduce broad ranging blanket rules like top—down 20 mile in our mandates. with as you

will have more choice, not less, and today we want to go further to support you so we are announcing new steps to make our schemes more generous and easier to use. take the managing payment. it is working with many farmers, small farmers especially signing up, so i can announce today we are going to double the payment to £2000 with thousands of farmers receiving that money this spring. we are also launching the biggest ever package of grants this year to boost productivity and resilience which will total £220 million. increasing the improving farming productivity scheme to invest in things like robotics and barren top solar, we are launching a new round of the technology fund worth £70 million. as farming changes, how we work with you in government must change also. the services we provide must be

shipped around your needs and we have got to build a culture based on trust. as president eisenhower said, farming looks mighty easy when your plough is a pencil and you are 1000 miles from a cornfield, so we are changing the culture. that means trust, support, cooperation. it means delivering on our promise to cut planning red tape that is stopping you from diversifying. in april, we will lay legislation for a biggerfarm shops and it means more funding for grassroots mental health support because we know what a tough job farming is. thirdly, we are strengthening support for your primary role, to produce the nation's food. food security is a vital part of our national security in recent years have brought home the truth of that. you can set off

not just an the truth of that. you can set off notjust an energy price bump at a food price bomb and as we have been so powerfully reminded time after time, in an age of climate change and instability, globalfood and instability, global food production and instability, globalfood production will become increasingly volatile so it is important to strengthen food security here at home. our strengthen food security here at home. 0uragriculturalact introduces a three yearly report to monitor food security. introduces a three yearly report to monitorfood security. given how much has happened in the last three years, it is clear we need to go further so today i can announce that we will step up monitoring with a new annualfood we will step up monitoring with a new annual food security index which we expect to be uk wide and it will be made statutory when parliamentary time allows. we will publish the first draft that the farm to fork summit this spring and i am also delighted to say that those summits will become an annual event, and one way to improve food security is to stop millions of tonnes of good,

fresh farm food going to waste just because of its shape or size. so we will also provide funding today are £50 million to redirect that surplus into the hands of those who need it. so in conclusion, supporting farmers, changing our approach and strengthening food security, that's our plan. you can trust us to deliver because we already are. you said you wanted a fair price for your products. tomorrow we are laying new regulations for the dairy sector and we are launching a review of the poultry sector. you asked for fair treatment in our trade deals so we are standing up for farmers in we are standing up forfarmers in those we are standing up for farmers in those negotiations, whether it is with canada or anybody else. you asked for a fairer, more supportive regulatory system and we have reformed our approach, cutting penalties for minor issues, already down by 1;0%. but more than this, you

can trust us, because i know how important my neighbours, our farmers, all of you, truly are. you help support millions ofjobs, add billions to our economy, shape the landscape, but most of all you produce the food we need. food that is some of the best and highest quality anywhere in the world, and thatis quality anywhere in the world, and that is why i say to you and all of britain's farmers, just as i did in my very first speech in parliament, i have got your back. thank you very much. applause prime minister, thank you. i have

sat at this table with six different secretaries of state and it really is a huge privilege to have you as prime minister with us today. we have got a couple of questions and i would ask people to come to the microphone in a moment but i want to start by touching on the situation with the core standards, effectively, for how we set our negotiations with these trade deals. i know how difficult canada has proved that we have been on that journey for three years now and reaching the sort of cliff edge and it was really appreciated that you stood by your commitment and you did walk away. but i think a lot of the frustration in this room is driven by the fact that we have on top of sps, we have high standards of environmental protection and animal welfare legislation and we have been asking for a long time, when can the

core standards become part of our trade negotiations. i would be interested to know your thoughts. first thing to say is we do have some of the highest quality standards of production and welfare of anywhere in the world. it is part of anywhere in the world. it is part of what makes our produce, that all of what makes our produce, that all of you do, so highly valued. we will talk a bit about the n word side of the trade deals but it is why we are able to open up new markets because people desperately want what we produce in this country and we think we have done that successfully whether it is putting early lamb back on supermarket shelves in the us, which is very positive. you are right, we need to make sure our farmers are not under cut and that is why we have the independent trade and agricultural commission that we have spoken about in the past which can provide that advice from government and they have been clear that we do not need to change any other statutory protections at the moment for any of our standards, as a result of the deals we have

struck. 0ne a result of the deals we have struck. one of the things i want to make sure we do going forward is improve ourfocus on make sure we do going forward is improve our focus on labour and making sure shoppers out and about in our supermarkets know exactly what they are doing, what standards it is produced to come up where there are differences that should be clear and transparent. what we can't have as some products masquerading as something else and that's not fair. i rememberthis as something else and that's not fair. i remember this very acutely when i first became an mp, and one of my neighbours who is a big farmer was talking me through that, dating back years and years but you all remember. a european wide piece of welfare legislation, well intentions, but we implemented it and suddenly you could be buying pork pies in a supermarket that were produced or different standard than no one could ever know. it is making sure that things like that in the future we can deal with and make

sure things are clearly labelled so all of you can recognise and shoppers can buy with confidence high quality british food. stews high quality british food. steve barclay knows _ high quality british food. steve barclay knows all _ high quality british food. steve barclay knows all too - high quality british food. steve barclay knows all too well - high quality british food. steve barclay knows all too well my i barclay knows all too well my criticism on the labelling which is out of home. our pubs and restaurants, that is the issue with labelling. i want to be a manifesto commitment for the conservative party? the trade agricultural commission took a million people to get that over the line and they have recommended it. i get that over the line and they have recommended it.— recommended it. i am not going to write our manifesto _ recommended it. i am not going to write our manifesto here _ recommended it. i am not going to write our manifesto here and - recommended it. i am not going to write our manifesto here and now. write our manifesto here and now but hopefully you can see our track record on these things, and when i first came to parliament and i was on the select committee, one of the things we were trying to fix on labelling was country of origin, and it is with processed food, we had done it for fresh it is with processed food, we had done it forfresh produce but not processed produce, still call it a british pork pie if it was put

together here but the meat was somewhere else and produced to a different standard. so we have a track record of fixing these things and labelling and standards are important, you have seen the approach we have taken so i will say, wait and see what is in the manifesto, but we are absolutely committed to supporting you to producing to high quality and making sure you are not under cut when you are doing it because it is just not fair. are doing it because it is 'ust not fair. ~ , , ., , fair. we will be picking that up with all parties _ fair. we will be picking that up with all parties because - fair. we will be picking that up with all parties because it - fair. we will be picking that up with all parties because it is i with all parties because it is absolutely critical to have any manifesto. i'm going to ask hannah buys man if she can come to the microphone and while hannah is coming to the microphone i am going to focus on my second question to you. i noticed when you were talking, and it was really great to hear you say that you wanted to see food security as part of our critical national infrastructure. that point at the resilience forum.

where you are very much talking about the challenges of building resilience, the importance of investing in our energy security, but food security was rather reverent to the global south. do you see a real sea change now that you can address this, we have a maritime climate and food security must be a top priority for government? in a word, top priority for government? in a word. yes- _ top priority for government? in a word. yes- we — top priority for government? in —. word, yes. we focus sometimes top priority for government? 1515. word, yes. we focus sometimes in top priority for government? 1515 word, yes. we focus sometimes in the headline number, 75% self—sufficient in the foods we can actually reduce year but we need to improve that. that is something i think we all want to see, what the british public want to see, what the british public want to see and the events of the last couple of years have demonstrated how important matters. what that headline number, whilst it looks respectable, underneath that there are categories where there is a very surprising lack of sufficiency. mark would give you chapter and verse, but things like

tomatoes, 16% self—sufficiency, quite counterintuitive. pears and plums are similar, things like lettuce, apples and raspberries only at 1;0%. it is very surprising when you think what we are capable of so there are are things we can do and thatis there are are things we can do and that is why you and i talked about this and focused on it, we have the farm to fork summit at downing street, delivered on that commitment. pleased to say that will now be an annual event to shine a spotlight on this and what tenants dare wear as we are going to move towards what you have asked us and thatis towards what you have asked us and that is to have a food security index that is published annually and will be done on a uk wide basis and where parliamentary time allows we will put that on a statutory footing and it will give is exactly the transparency in spotlight we need on this issue, combined with all the policy we are doing to increase food production through the schemes that will get us to the outcome we want. more british food produced here at home because that is what the public

want and what the country needs. hannah. . ~ want and what the country needs. hannah. ., ~ i. ., , hannah. thank you. the eu remains british farming's _ hannah. thank you. the eu remains british farming's biggest _ hannah. thank you. the eu remains british farming's biggest market - hannah. thank you. the eu remains british farming's biggest market but the cost _ british farming's biggest market but the cost of trade remains a heavy weight— the cost of trade remains a heavy weight on— the cost of trade remains a heavy weight on the uk agri— food sector. what _ weight on the uk agri— food sector. what plans— weight on the uk agri— food sector. what plans does the uk have to firstly _ what plans does the uk have to firstly break down these barriers, particularly for sp5 and secondly to manage _ particularly for sp5 and secondly to manage regulatory divergence to enable _ manage regulatory divergence to enable the sector to fulfil its potential? thank you. thanks, hannah. what _ potential? thank you. thanks, hannah. what we _ potential? thank you. thanks, hannah. what we are - potential? thank you. thanks, hannah. what we are doing i potential? thank you. thanks, hannah. what we are doing is | potential? thank you. thanks, - hannah. what we are doing is working very hard with individual countries to ease all those areas where there are differences or needs to be facilitation is put in place. i will be honest, it is a work in progress, but we are making progress. i will give you a few examples. we rode over the eu— new zealand sps deal so

that has been helpful in the facilitation is. we reach specific agreements with a couple of different countries and i won't remember all of them, but sweden weeded frozen foods, austria, fresh meat. those are examples where we have sat down with the country and made sure where there were issues on labelling and other things we have smoothed them away, and that essentially will be our plan going forward, sitting down and having constructive conversations with partners on where we can make improvements and make things easier for you, that is what we are keen to do. the other thing we are in dialogue with on the eu, which is not an overnight thing that will be a big achievement if we can get it done at some point is to move to electronic authorisation, something we have been talking about. if we can do that it will massively reduce some of the hassle involved in different areas that people are seeing. that is a longer term piece of work but we have started those conversations because i want to make life as easy for you and your

colleagues as possible. got a track record of delivering it and we will keep going to do more.— record of delivering it and we will keep going to do more. thank you. i want to touch _ keep going to do more. thank you. i want to touch briefly _ keep going to do more. thank you. i want to touch briefly on _ keep going to do more. thank you. i want to touch briefly on the - keep going to do more. thank you. i want to touch briefly on the budget l want to touch briefly on the budget because i made the point in my speech, i have worked with four prime ministers in six years, three and 12 months, and it is fair to say you have all been very different. laughter mac —— laughter. we have a lot of legislation now that sits above the level of the eu on tree—planting and net zero and air quality, water quality, and regulation costs money, so we commissioned some work and on the back of the desperate situation in ukraine, we saw a lot of that

inflation now baked in, so we got some independent analysis to really look at the budget, how much money effectively is going to be needed to deliver all of this and that figure for england and wales that has been quoted to us is 1;.5 billion. i know it is putting you on the spot a bit and some massive announcements today, but a manifesto commitment? it is a good thing the chancellor is not here. it it is a good thing the chancellor is not here. , ., ., _,, ., not here. it is going to cost more mone is not here. it is going to cost more money is the _ not here. it is going to cost more money is the point. _ not here. it is going to cost more money is the point. i— not here. it is going to cost more money is the point. i think - not here. it is going to cost more money is the point. i think you i money is the point. i think you understand — money is the point. i think you understand i _ money is the point. i think you understand i can't _ money is the point. i think you understand i can't get - money is the point. i think you understand i can't get into - money is the point. i think you - understand i can't get into numbers for future understand i can't get into numbers forfuture budgets and understand i can't get into numbers for future budgets and things but the first thing to say is i absolutely want to deliver to the penny on what we committed to you which is that all of the 21; billion for every year of this parliament will come to you. i want to make good on that promise. that is what we said we would do and what we are going to do and the announcement today covered what happens. there

was an announcement about the uplift tjy was an announcement about the uplift by 10% and what we are doing today, doubling the management payment and significantly increasing the grant schemes, which have been really successful. thank you for engaging with those in the way you have. back to support you with equipment and robotics and burn top solar, all the things you said you want help with, money available for all of that and all of those things will open relatively quickly so we can start getting the cash out to you. hopefully group that gives you a sense that we are absolutely committed to financially supporting you but also supporting you in a way that supports food production. the primary purpose of farming is food production and if people feel we are not on the side of that then we need to make sure that you recognise we do believe that and we are putting our money where our mouth is and we will lay out more details, but this is big financial support for all of you to do what you love doing and what the country needs you to do and

thatis what the country needs you to do and that is to produce high—quality food, drive up production and sufficiency and that is where the money is going. i sufficiency and that is where the money is going-— sufficiency and that is where the money is going. i have a question from clear— money is going. i have a question from clear why — money is going. i have a question from clear why is _ money is going. i have a question from clear why is from _ money is going. i have a question from clear why is from durham i money is going. i have a question | from clear why is from durham and north riding, i don't know if she is at the microphone. i can see her. thank you, good morning. in the last five years— thank you, good morning. in the last five years we — thank you, good morning. in the last five years we have seen the war in ukraine, _ five years we have seen the war in ukraine, inflation, rising cost of living _ ukraine, inflation, rising cost of living and — ukraine, inflation, rising cost of living and a _ ukraine, inflation, rising cost of living and a considerable exhilaration and climate change. these _ exhilaration and climate change. these have contributed to a food sunny— these have contributed to a food supply chain that is fundamentally unbalanced and unfair to farmers and the resulting unsustainable financial and mental pressures on those _ financial and mental pressures on those of— financial and mental pressures on those of us — financial and mental pressures on those of us in this business. recognising the dearth of supply chein— recognising the dearth of supply chain investigations that are ongoing _ chain investigations that are ongoing in certain sectors, how are you going _ ongoing in certain sectors, how are you going to— ongoing in certain sectors, how are you going to ensure that the outcomes for these investigations as well as— outcomes for these investigations as well as wider agricultural policy will ensure farmers can secure a sustainable and resilient future

giving — sustainable and resilient future giving us — sustainable and resilient future giving us the security that we deserve _ giving us the security that we deserve. , ., ,._ giving us the security that we deserve. , ., _ ., deserve. the first thing to say, all of ou deserve. the first thing to say, all of you work— deserve. the first thing to say, all of you work incredibly _ deserve. the first thing to say, all of you work incredibly hard. - deserve. the first thing to say, all of you work incredibly hard. i - deserve. the first thing to say, all of you work incredibly hard. i see | of you work incredibly hard. i see that first hand at home in north yorkshire and the least we can do is make sure that you are paid fairly for that incredible work that you do. that is why, there was an adjudicator a while ago or the recent supply chain reviews that the secretary of state and ministers have initiated were determined to have initiated were determined to have a supply chain that is fair. where there is fairness and transparency. we have been doing that work and again that is the plan we are sticking to that is delivering for you. tomorrow we will be laying the regulations in the dairy sector and then moving on to pigs and poultry and egg in the coming period and also starting to look at fresh produce. that was our commitment to you that we would do these reviews and make sure that we figure out what is going on and we are laying the regulations to ensure

we do have that fairness and transparency because that in a sense is what you deserve and what we need to have if we believe in a sustainable future for farming that we all want to see. we are delivering on the commitments we made and you will see that tomorrow and more to come after that. we are going through the sector systematically and fairness is at the heart of it on to touch on the last thing you said about mental health, again, we all recognise the challenges when you are in a small business, a family business, which is by its nature volatile. that is stressful. i grew up in a small family business, my mum was a pharmacist, and that didn't have the volatility that all your business is hard and it was stressful enough, so i can only imagine what that feels like. that is why one of the announcements we made today as providing a little extra financial support to organisations that are supporting you and your colleagues

where they run into some difficulty and want mental health support because i think that is important and something we haven't talked about enough in the past. when i am out and about now people are more open and i am delighted we can do that today. flan open and i am delighted we can do that toda . ., , open and i am delighted we can do that toda . . , , open and i am delighted we can do that toda . ., , _ ., that today. can i 'ust say how welcome h that today. can i 'ust say how welcome those _ that today. can ijust say how welcome those investigations that today. can i just say how - welcome those investigations are. you heard my challenge on the half of this audience to uk food retailers. it really is an untenable marketplace, a continuing retail price war. we fight members come to me forfear of being price war. we fight members come to me for fear of being delisted and don't fear they can speak up. the culture really has to change. we need to sell more british food, they want to sell more british food, consumers want to buy it. we have to make this work so the investigations are welcome. i'm getting lots of sign language to me and i'm not sure whether it means one more question, one more second... apologies, it

looks like we have lost those pictures but you were just listening to prime minister rishi sunak addressing the national farmers' union. he announced a package of grants as expected including £220 million for new food productivity schemes. he also talked about money for farm technology as well as plans to cut the bureaucracy around plans around certain development of new projects, farm shops and commercial spaces. he also had to face questions from the uf president as well as questions from the audience. we understand those questions were pre—vetted and chosen by the national farmers' union and the raised concerns about mental health, the pressures farmers have had to face when it comes to things like

the prices of british farming going down. they also mention the impact of the war in ukraine and the impact that has had not only on inflation but also of cheaper grains coming into the market here in the united kingdom. of course that has had a lot of effects and that is why there have been protests by farmers including protests in dover this weekend in reaction to all of this. this while the british prime minister was addressing the national farmers' union here in the uk. he is not the only world leader to have to face difficult questions. poland has seen protests this week from its farmers across europe and across countries that are part of the european union, for example. they have had to protest against eu regulations that also allow ukrainian grain to enter their

markets and the response to the war in ukraine. that has led to a lot of uncertainty and a difficulty for farmers which is why again is used to do with mental health have also been addressed as well. we will bring you much more as soon as we can get those pictures back and as the prime minister continues to answer those questions. before we do that, i want to bring you some breaking news. it is about the nottingham attacks in which barney webber, graca malik kumar and ian coates were stabbed to death by valdo calocane. he was sentenced to detention in a high security hospital after admitting manslaughter on the grounds of diminished responsibility. the attorney general has decided that the sentencing was unduly lenient and that it should now be referred to the court of appeal. as a reminder, you are watching bbc news.

we are going to move on to some other news here in the uk. the education committee has been questioning representatives from charities and the national police chiefs' council today in a session on online harms and the effectiveness of the online safety act. the committee is questioning dame rachel d'souza on her work on online safety for children and i think we can bring you some live pictures now. let'sjust think we can bring you some live pictures now. let's just listening. is to is the first time we have had legislation that pushes this back and it is really important. secondly, the other of my regulations that were incorporated, we require all platforms aimed at children to be included in the bell. anything that is user to use it as an scope of the bill and it is really important. not all platforms are on the scope of the bill so i'm keeping my eye on that. for example when a child is looking at a blog or

doing something on their own it is not they are so my recommendation was not incorporated so the user to user is incorporated i am pleased. i call for the requirement of risky platforms to establish which accounts belong to children and offer higher levels of protection to them. my student ambassadors pushed back at me on this and said it should be safe for everyone. i actually think everywhere should be safe for everyone, shouldn't be seeing things, but i actually think requiring risky platforms to protect children is really important. that one is really incumbent on the pawn companies and i was allowed to bring in the pawn companies and challenge them. we did that piece of work back in 2021 and i am pleased it is there and incorporated. it covers all pornography sites and services. a

big positive that that happened. the thing, i called for the aligning of online and off—line laws and protections, that was not included, but i'm hoping that will be addressed in the pornography review. empowering children's voices and rights in the digital world was included and has been part of the process of the bill so i am pleased about that. i don't think the things i wanted... i about that. i don't think the things iwanted... i haven't about that. i don't think the things i wanted... i haven't been able... there has been so much change in terms of secretaries of state and i have not been able to sit down and say why did you not include these bets? i have had various discussions but in summary they are the things i called foran that were and were not included. ., _, . , ., included. one of the concerns of arents i included. one of the concerns of parents i speak— included. one of the concerns of parents i speak to, _ included. one of the concerns of parents i speak to, even - included. one of the concerns of parents i speak to, even when i included. one of the concerns of. parents i speak to, even when they are tech savvy, they are unable to keep with the pace of change in the

tech trends their kids are into. so in your view does the act of her support for parents and teachers are guardians to effectively consider and provide an adequate framework for dealing with emerging of future heart was? ~ ., , , ., , ., heart was? what this bill does, what this legislation _ heart was? what this bill does, what this legislation does, _ heart was? what this bill does, what this legislation does, is _ heart was? what this bill does, what this legislation does, is put - heart was? what this bill does, what this legislation does, is put the - this legislation does, is put the onus on tech companies to take down material that shouldn't be there, to age verify children and to make sure, to put the onus on the tech companies to keep them safe. but there is still a massivejob companies to keep them safe. but there is still a massive job for parents and for schools. i don't think anyone should rely on the bill solely or the legislation solely for keeping children safe. i think actually... there is a lot. i had the tech companies and last week and challenge them on why are you not

doing more to educate parents about the online world? there is a huge issue with and i am happy to talk about either of those. we did a piece of work, what i wish my parents had known, because it can seem very, parents, you must do this. so we basically got hundreds of kids into the dfe and said, what do you wish your parents had known the? and if it was your little brother or sister, what would you want done for them? and what they told us, one, we want a childhood, we don't think children should be given these things so early and actually they should be able to be free and play. they told us that they actually loved their digital experience, they like being online, but most of them now they are addicted to their phones wouldn't want them taken away, but they do

want them taken away, but they do want boundaries. they talked about how parents should not