Intervention needed in dairy crisis

10.41.44am UTC (GMT +0000) Mon 24th Nov 2003

Local Liberal Democrat MEP Liz Lynne is calling for dairy farmers in the West Midlands to respond to a Liberal Democrat consultation paper on regulating the dairy industry.

Liberal Democrat Shadow Rural Affairs Secretary, Andrew George MP, has circulated a consultation paper to representatives of the dairy farming industry. It proposes a range of options which acknowledge the need for government intervention to 'give dairy farmers a fair farm gate price'.

Liz Lynne, who is backing the initiative, said:

"The protests by dairy farmers in Nuneaton, Oswestry, Stone, Ross on Wye and elsewhere demonstrated the strength of feeling among dairy farmers who feel that they have no choice other than to take their protest to the gates of milk processors and supermarkets.

"We are desperately in need of a long term solution to establishing a sustainable farmgate price for milk. The question now is not whether to intervene but by how much. Clearly it is not in anyone's interest to needlessly add further layers of regulations and bureaucracy. But it would be an act of gross negligence for the government not to recognise that it has a responsibility to help find a solution to a dysfunctional market through measures that do not commit further public funds to the industry.

"I hope that the consultation paper will not only provide the basis for some urgent discussions but also the foundation for proposals for government action."

Related Link:

Liberal Democrat Consultation Paper on the Dairy Industry.