Labour need to reassess the rural policy they inherited from the previous Conservative government if they want food security, according to the new chair of the Rural Select committee in Westminster Alasdair Carmichael MP.

Speaking to The Northern Farmer sister publication The Scottish Farmer, the Orkney and Shetland MP questioned the ability of Defra’s rural policy to deliver a food for the table. He said: “There are lots of interesting stuff about environment, carbon and land use. All good worthy stuff, but if the government is going to say food security is a priority then they need an agricultural policy which can deliver it. Which what is happening in England at the moment, inherently doesn’t.

“There is so little certainty that people don’t want to sign up to a contract where changes might be round the corner.

Alastair Carmichael MPAlastair Carmichael MP

“This is having an impact on farms across the country. The danger then is that instead of producing the food here in the UK, consumers turn to imports where we have less ability to influence the standards and impact on the environment. It starts a downward spiral in standards.”

The Lib Dem MP explained that cattle number decline was an import issue in the Northern Isles as much as the rest of the UK.

“This is the exactly the conversation I have been having with QMS and the mart in Orkney, if numbers are falling here, it will pretty well be happening round the rest of Scotland and UK too,” he added.

One area which the Lib Dem MP is advocating is the benefits of the beef calf scheme.

“As a husband of a vet and now a father of a recently started vet too, I think something like the beef suckler support scheme has the potential to make a massive difference to farms and rural communities. The English can see what we achieve with it. If you speak to farmers in Scotland it is a great thing to have and a bit extra funding would have an even bigger impact on funding. When you compared this to English schemes doesn’t have enough to maintain and encourage food production south of the border.”

The Lib Dem MP is keen to use his new position to hold the UK government to account with the committee to discuss a wide range of issues in the coming months. One area Mr Carmichael is keen to understand is the role of farming in climate change. He said: “It almost feels like people in the agricultural communities are being punished for climate change like they alone are the people responsible.

"This is wrong. You never achieve the reduction in carbon we need if we don’t bring communities along with us. Too often these climate change decisions and policies feel like they are done to rural communities and not for rural communities. Even worse it is driving the urban and rural areas apart, as we are stuck in a blame game.”