OUTLAW GREYHOUND RACING

AUSTRALIA

Greyhound racing injuries and deaths surge despite NSW government’s $30m safety pledge

Tamsin Rose

Guardian Australia
Tue, 21 February 2023

Photograph: EPA

The number of greyhounds injured or dying on New South Wales racetracks has surged, with a new report from the state’s industry regulator finding that last winter was the worst on record for the sport since 2018.

Data released by the Greyhound Welfare and Integrity Commission (GWIC) revealed 67 dogs suffered “catastrophic and major” injuries from July to September 2022. Of those, 19 died.

Overall, there were 939 injuries across all categories, representing injuries to 21% of the dogs that raced over the three months.

Related: NSW won’t review decision to allow ‘inhumane’ greyhound breeding technique

Injuries include breaks, muscle tears, cuts, strains, scratches and catastrophic traumas causing death, as well as euthanasia. For every 1,000 starts, there were 38 injuries reported.

The figures represent an overall increase on every third-quarter period since 2017, and are the highest since 2018, when comparable records began.

Advocates for greater regulation of the industry have questioned how the figures could be so high after the government pledged $30m for track improvements between 2017 and 2022 in response to the extensive Greyhound Industry Reform Panel report.

The commission will explore whether heavy rain caused by La Niña could be blamed for the uptick in injuries.

“GWIC will explore potential reasons for the observed increase in injury in this quarter, including the very high rainfall across much of the state,” the report read.

Data is compared between quarters, the commission explained, to reduce the influence of seasons and provide a more accurate picture of long-term trends. The commission noted that injury rates were usually higher over the hotter months covered by quarters one and four.

The Coalition for the Protection of Greyhounds’ NSW director, Kylie Field, said the industry had not improved safety for dogs and if wet weather was causing problems then dogs should not race in those conditions.

“This industry continually talks about safety standards for the dogs and it’s just a load of nonsense,” she said.

“They were racing even being aware the tracks would be slippery, and there might be a greater risk that dogs would be killed.”

Field said the government needed to explain where the money pledged to improve safety in the industry was going and how it would act on the back of the most recent report.

“We still don’t have full transparency from the government on where that money’s gone,” she said.

Longer-term trends based on annual running averages also indicated an overall increase in injuries over the past 12 months, as well as increases in three categories. One category remained stable and overall deaths were declining since 2017.

The commission and the minister responsible for greyhound racing, Kevin Anderson, have been contacted for comment.

UK
Frankie Boyle urges Rishi Sunak to ditch Rosebank oil field plans

21st February
By Steph Brawn@BrawnJourno

Multimedia Political Journalist

COMEDIAN Frankie Boyle and climate campaigner Vanessa Nakate have urged Prime Minister Rishi Sunak to throw out plans to develop a new oil and gas field in the North Sea.

On Tuesday, activists and organisations, which included the Women’s Institute and RSPB, wrote to Sunak to urge him to reject plans for the Rosebank field, which is planned to be built 80 miles off the coast of Shetland.

Energy minister Grant Shapps is expected to make a decision on whether or not to approve the project imminently, with the field scheduled to start production in 2026.

But Boyle said “approving Rosebank makes no sense” and “we’re in a climate emergency, renewable energy is so much cheaper, and anyway this is oil for export”.

“The only winners would be the oil and gas companies that own these reserves off the Shetland coast,” he said.

“Why we’re subsidising its development to the tune of half a billion pounds, when they clearly don’t need the cash and there are plenty more worthy causes, is a mystery.”

Rosebank contains up to 350 million barrels of oil, and is one of the largest untapped discoveries in UK waters.

It could produce 69,000 barrels of oil per day – about 8% of the UK’s projected daily output between 2026 and 2030 – and could also produce 44 million cubic feet of gas every day, Equinor, the Norwegian firm behind the project, said.

Campaigners against Rosebank have said it would have a devastating impact on the climate, if approved, and taxpayers would effectively subsidise 90% of the development cost.

In a YouGovDirect poll, more than two thirds of the 2193 people asked said they were against taxpayers subsidising oil and gas firms to develop new fields in the North Sea

They were asked between February 1-2 as part of a poll commissioned by the group Uplift, which advocates fossil-free fuels and helps co-ordinate the Stop Rosebank and Stop Cambo campaigns.

The open letter to the Prime Minister on Tuesday also said the development would “not help energy security” with supplies “most likely to be exported and will not lower energy costs in the UK”.

Nakate said the UK needed to “care about people around the world who are already living with the climate crisis, and protect young people and generations to come who will have to face the consequences of these decisions”.

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero has been approached for comment.

US giant leads £36m investment team backing Newcastle hydrogen pioneers

Mike Hughes
Tue, 21 February 2023 

GeoPura plans to deploy a fleet of over 3,600 HPUs by 2033 (Image: Press release)

Newcastle-based green hydrogen pioneer GeoPura has received £36m investment from a team of industry leaders led by GM Ventures, the investment arm of General Motors.

The round was co-led by Barclays Sustainable Impact Capital with participation from SWEN CP and Siemens Energy Ventures and allows GeoPura to scale its green hydrogen business, which is replacing diesel-fuelled generators.

GeoPura currently provides hydrogen power from Newcastle to Balfour Beatty, HS2, National Grid and the BBC among other sustainability-driven customers, replacing traditional diesel generators with its Hydrogen Power Unit (HPU) technology.

The HPUs are used for temporary, supplementary, off grid and backup power. GeoPura plans to grow the use of hydrogen into other hard-to-decarbonise areas of the energy system, such as EV charging and supplementary grid power, as economies continue to electrify.

With hubs in Nottingham and Newcastle, the £36m investment will enable GeoPura to mass manufacture HPUs alongside partner Siemens Energy, increase the production of green hydrogen to fuel the units and drive green skills in the North East.

GeoPura plans to deploy a fleet of over 3,600 HPUs by 2033, providing clean, low-cost reliable power, and displacing more than six million tonnes of CO2 emissions through their operation over their life.

In response to customer demand, the company aims to bring a number of new products to market, addressing smaller and larger power requirements. The company will work closely with its new strategic partners to advance the technology needed to enable the mass electrification that underpins decarbonisation.

Andrew Cunningham, CEO of GeoPura, said: “Green hydrogen is too often seen as a technology that will happen in the future, but GeoPura and our partners are delivering a commercially viable technology, today. The world can’t afford to wait a decade for green fuels to scale – we must act now.

“This investment allows us to build on our installed base of HPUs and hydrogen production infrastructure to stimulate the green hydrogen economy, and then expand the use of clean fuels into other hard-to-decarbonise areas of our energy system.

The Northern Echo: GeoPura production

GeoPura production (Image: Press release)

“We have secured the right mix of investors, forming strategic partnerships that not only provide the funds to enable us to scale rapidly, but also the skills and resources to accelerate the transition to zero emission fuels. With the support of our investors we can help turn the market on its head and build a green hydrogen economy this decade, not next.”

“The need for green hydrogen energy solutions is expanding as a wide range of customers move toward replacing diesel-powered sources,” said Wade Sheffer, Managing Director, GM Ventures.

“Our investment in GeoPura demonstrates our focus on scaling breakthrough innovations that can advance sustainability, while supporting GM’s progress toward an all-electric, zero-emissions future. GeoPura’s HPUs and GM’s HYDROTEC fuel cell expertise have the potential to provide better energy solutions across industries.”

Green hydrogen is widely recognised as essential to achieve global climate goals, potentially supplying 25% of energy demand by 2050, with a $10tn addressable market, according to Goldman Sachs.

The UK government has set its own target to hit 10GW of low carbon hydrogen capacity this decade. However, there remain limited commercial technologies able to capitalise on this demand. GeoPura set out to prove green hydrogen as a commercially viable solution, today, to replace existing fossil fuels.

GeoPura has grown rapidly since delivering its first HPU in collaboration with Siemens Energy in 2019, generating hydrogen and transporting the fuel to customers for use in its HPUs – customers then rent the units and pay for the fuel used.

The company is initially targeting sectors with the highest diesel use today, such as construction, infrastructure, outdoor events, and back-up power. It is also providing a solution to power commercial EV charging, where the local electricity network isn’t capable. The only by-product is pure water and heat.

Hydrogen-powered cars and high-tech animal feed: two sustainable ventures on finding funding and creating jobs

Duncan Jefferies
Tue, 21 February 2023

Solving the world’s toughest problems requires ambition, determination and resilience. Entrepreneurs with great ideas for tackling the climate crisis or food security require all of these qualities because turning a game-changing innovation into a viable business isn’t easy without the right support. And that’s where Unreasonable Impact, a partnership between Barclays and the Unreasonable Group, comes in.

In a nutshell, Unreasonable Impact handpicks innovators with the most creative ideas – and backs them. Deep Branch, a biotech company that uses microbes to turn carbon dioxide from industrial emissions into protein for animal feed, and Riversimple, which is developing hydrogen-powered vehicles, have both benefited from access to the expertise and resources provided by the programme.

Deep Branch’s technology offers a more sustainable means of creating protein. Currently, livestock are mostly fed soybean or fishmeal, which are linked to deforestation and overfishing. Deep Branch’s technology takes purified CO2 and mixes it with microbes, in a process called gas fermentation, to create a protein powder that can be added to animal feed. It isn’t at the mercy of volatile weather or global supply chain disruptions, so helps to ensure food security. And it has the further benefit of reducing competition for valuable arable land.

“Deep Branch’s tech means you can use arable land to keep producing products that can’t be made another way,” says Pete Rowe, CEO and co-founder of Deep Branch, which employs 30 staff in the UK and the Netherlands. “Letting land be used for something else – even rewilding – is a big win.”

Riversimple aims to deliver an equally big win in sustainability terms: the elimination of the environmental impact of personal transport. The company says that its prototype hydrogen fuel-cell car, the Rasa, is designed for a range of 300 miles on a full tank of hydrogen and, unlike conventional electric vehicles, can be refilled in three minutes. This means it offers all the flexibility of a fossil fuel car without the environmental downsides, as its tailpipe emits nothing but droplets of water.

Rather than selling its vehicles, Riversimple, which is based in Llandrindod Wells in Wales, plans to offer them as part of a subscription service that covers all the associated running costs, from servicing and maintenance to insurance and fuel. It’s a business model that makes efficiency profitable without asking the customer to pay a premium for it. At the end of a contract, the vehicle is returned to Riversimple and supplied to another customer.

Riversimple’s hydrogen fuel-cell vehicle, the Rasa, has been developed at the company’s headquarters in Wales. Top left, a fuel-cell engine; right, the car’s wiring at an early stage. Photograph: Joel Redman/The Guardian

“We’re about resource conservation instead of consumption,” says Hugo Spowers, chief engineer and founder of Riversimple. “If you sell cars, the more resources you consume, the more money you make. And I don’t see how we can ever have a sustainable industrial society based on rewarding industry for doing the opposite to what we’re trying to achieve.”

Unreasonable Impact was established in 2016 to provide ambitious entrepreneurs such as Rowe and Spowers with the guidance and support they need to tackle pressing global challenges. Over the course of the programme, entrepreneurs are brought together with a curated group of mentors and industry experts who can help them solve key issues facing their business. Support continues through the Unreasonable Fellowship, which provides these innovators with access to investors and experts, including from Barclays, as well as some of the world’s most powerful institutions.

More than 250 firms have benefited from the programme to date. Collectively, they’ve raised more than £10bn in financing and are supporting more than 19,500 full-time employees.

Fiona and Hugo Spowers of Riversimple

Fiona Spowers, communications director at Riversimple, says the company’s involvement resulted in “a very welcome, patient and longstanding cohort of support” and that she was “surprised and delighted” that many of the entrepreneurs in the group were also working on “hard, real technology solutions …[tackling] real problems”. In the years since, Barclays’ mentors have remained helpful, encouraging and interested in the issues involved in developing a hydrogen-powered car, she says.

Rowe, meanwhile, appreciates the fact that the programme allows CEOs of companies to engage with one another on a very purposeful level. “Within your organisation, you don’t necessarily have any peers … [so] it’s nice to have an external network you can lean on.”

He’s now focused on industrialising Deep Branch’s CO2-to-protein technology, “because big problems need large-scale solutions”. A pilot plant at an innovation hub in the Netherlands is due to open shortly, and the company is also exploring the possibility of a commercial-scale facility in Iceland. The company’s aim is to produce 600,000 tonnes of protein per year by 2030. “It’s exciting to think of a world where there’s a lot more food security and food self-sufficiency,” says Rowe.

Pigs feeding

Deep Branch creates proteins for animal feed from purified CO2. Photographs: Jussi Puikkonen/The Guardian/Getty Images

The Rasa, meanwhile, has undergone successful beta testing, and Riversimple was recently in talks to locate a manufacturing plant in Aberdeen’s energy transition zone. It would produce 5,000 vehicles a year and potentially create 200 jobs, plus 600 more in the supply chain.

Rather than the UK building electric car battery factories when China already dominates the market and supplies of the critical minerals the batteries contain, Hugo Spowers believes Britain should seize the opportunity that hydrogen vehicles represent, given that fuel-cell technology is still immature. “It doesn’t require those critical minerals, and it really depends on innovation, which we’re pretty good at,” he says. “So a position of global significance in the supply chain for fuel-cell vehicles is a real opportunity for the UK.”

While protein for animal feed and hydrogen-powered cars might seem quite different, both illustrate the guiding ethos of Unreasonable Impact: that solving tough global problems is not only a moral imperative, it’s also a financial opportunity. And thanks to support from the programme, hundreds of innovators that share this belief should now find it easier to scale their business – and maybe change the world.

Discover more about the Unreasonable Impact programme, a partnership between Barclays and Unreasonable Group that supports high-growth entrepreneurs working on social and environmental challenges

GREENWASHING

What in the world is carbon insetting - and is it any better for the planet than carbon offsetting?

Rosie Frost
Tue, 21 February 2023 


Corporations are increasingly turning to carbon ‘insetting’ to meet their net zero goals.

But the practise is plagued by integrity issues and misreporting, a damning new report has warned.

The practise of carbon offsetting - investing in green projects or tree-planting as a way to balance out your carbon emissions - is increasingly widespread.

Insetting operates on a similar model, but brings the carbon reduction process in-house. Instead of buying carbon credits from unrelated third parties, companies invest in carbon reduction or removal projects along their own supply chains.

Nestle, for example, plants trees on the land of its suppliers.

But according to a new report by the New Climate Institute (NCI) - a German campaign group - the “contentious practise” doesn’t always stack up.

“Insetting is a business-driven concept with no universally accepted definition. The approach can lead to low credibility greenhouse gas emission offsetting claims and the double counting of emission reductions,” the report authors warn.

Ryanair: Low-cost airline warned about misleading carbon offset claims

Community conflict and vague predictions: The five biggest reasons carbon offsetting schemes fail

What is carbon offsetting?

Carbon insetting is a version of the more widely-known carbon offsetting.

These days, offsetting - paying to plant trees or investing in green projects as a way to balance out your carbon emissions - is a pretty standard method of easing your environmental conscience.

The process has spawned a thriving business making billions of euros every year as companies trade carbon credits to reach climate change goals.

You can now even offset to undo your own personal environmental damage, with airlines and organisations offering to help you take full responsibility for your residual emissions. For a small fee, of course.

Increasingly, however, this sustainability solution has come under fire from activists as being little more than greenwashing. Critics have compared it to the practice of selling indulgences in the ancient Catholic church; you can live how you want as long as you have the money to buy off your sins.

In December 2022, a Source Material and Guardian investigation claimed up to 90 per cent of forest-based carbon credits approved by industry-leader Verra are 'worthless.'
How does carbon insetting differ to carbon offsetting?

What if, instead of making environmental protection a side issue, businesses made these kinds of carbon-absorbing projects a part of the new normal?

It sounds like a positive development.

Tilmann Silber, director of sustainable supply chains for environmental expert, South Pole, discusses how important a completely new approach could be in allowing brands to show they are serious about fighting climate change.

“Insetting is derived from offsetting, as the name suggests,” Silber explains. Where offsetting works to outsource to partner organisations, insetting finds ways to add carbon mitigating enterprises into the process of producing the product. “They would be looking for projects in or close to their supply chain.”

Nestlé is one the companies singled out by the NCI report for its insetting scheme. - AP

Conventional carbon neutralising usually involves investing in projects unrelated to products, but insetting instead addresses a company’s balance with the ecosystem directly.

Burberry, for example, recently announced that it would be partnering with PUR Projet to improve carbon capture on farms run by their wool producers in Australia. Restoring the biodiversity of these habitats helps capture CO2 from the atmosphere but also ensures the future of the landscape.

Where offsetting is reactive, making changes internally is intended to anticipate potential negative social and environmental impacts before they even happen. Ultimately the goal is to provide a net positive outcome.

What are the problems with carbon insetting?

But insetting is vulnerable to the same integrity threats as offsetting, the New Climate Institute report warns.

The NCI analysed the climate pledges of 24 major multinational corporations.

Many of these corporations tout their insetting programs - a development that threatens to undermine company climate strategies, the NCI warns.

‘Pure greenwashing’: Shell reports highest ever profits while labelling fossil gas as ‘renewable’


Nestle, Coca-Cola, Boohoo: The companies under the radar in UK greenwashing probe


‘Greenwashing’: Lufthansa defends Green Fares as campaigners slam offsetting plans

Because insetting all happens inhouse, it’s hard to scrutinise the methodologies that different companies use. It is hard to show that the emissions reductions are permanent - trees planted for emissions reduction may be logged later on, for example - and difficult to verify how the company is tallying its carbon footprint.

There are no global verification standards for insetting schemes. Advertisement of such unvetted schemes could give consumers a "false impression of the company’s activities' true climate impact.," the NCI warns.

Can insetting be made successful?

Companies should be minimising their carbon footprint along their own supply chains. This premise - the central idea behind insetting - is sound.

However, the concept can be used to obscure a company's true climate footprint.

So how would genuinely sustainable insetting work? The practice does have a possible range of benefits beyond purely financial rewards. “It improves the resilience of the supply chain by investing where it is most vulnerable,” Silber says.

Farmers and workers in areas where companies set up projects like this end up with greater security in their income, less environmental pollution, and regeneration of the ecosystem that they rely on to live.

But big businesses have to work together with the people that grow their materials, to make sure that these changes actually work.

“There has to be a partnership approach, it’s not sustainable to force farmers to make changes,” explains Silber.

“It’s not enough to just make it financially attractive in the short-term, that means a farmer signs up for 5 to 10 years and then stops doing it.”

Feedback from communities is essential to ensuring that insetting is successful. Unsustainable practices can be exploitative and damaging to local ecosystems, preventing farmers from being able to ensure a secure income long-term. Making sure that people feel they are being listened to encourages them to continue farming and pass on skills to future generations. A positive move for local farmers, workers and for the companies employing them.

Po River: Winter brings little relief for Italy's drought struck waterway

The once-mighty Po River is flowing at extremely low levels, after a dry winter fails to compensate for record-breaking drought last summer. 

 - Copyright Marco_Bonfanti/Getty Images/iStockphoto

By Charlotte Elton with AFP • Updated: 20/02/2023 - 

Northern Italy’s lakes and rivers are abnormally low after an unusually dry winter, farmers have warned.

The mighty Po River is Italy’s longest waterway. Flowing from the snowy Alps to the Adriatic Sea, the Po stretches more than 650km, nourishing crops and providing vital irrigation to arable land.

But the river - and the farming communities who depend upon it - are under threat.

Last summer, record-breaking droughts reduced parts of the once-gushing waterway to a sluggish trickle. An unusually dry winter has brought little relief.

Next year’s harvest could be under threat, warns Stefano Greppi, head of the Farmers’ association of Pavia

"This winter has been very dry because there has been very little snowfall even on mountains, and the reservoirs are at historic lows, so the same situation as in 2022 is likely to occur again,” he says.
Italy drought: WWII bomb revealed by record-low water levels in River Po is safely detonated
Italy drought: Compare satellite images to see how Po River has changed in two years
How low is the Po right now?

The mighty Po River is currently 3.3 metres below zero gauge height - a normal dry point for the river.

The waterway is rarely this low, even in the height of summer.

There has been little rain this winter, warns Stefano Mancuso, Professor of Arboriculture, University of Florence.

"Right now the situation is typical for global warming,” he explains.

“The same amount of rain falls in a year, but it is concentrated in very few days. To think that this situation can change is absolutely impossible."

The Po river is usually much higher at this time of year.

The Lake Garda and Po River Basin Authority have decided to reduce water flow by 5 cubic meters per second. This will hopefully prevent the river from drying up in particularly vulnerable spots.

The river has been flowing at extremely low levels since summer 2022, when Italy sweltered through record-breaking heat and drought. It dwindled so much that the remains of a tank from WWII were revealed and the ruined walls of a medieval town emerged from the water.

The historic average flow for June is 1,805 cubic metres per second. In late June 2022, the flow measured in some parts of the river fell below an average of 145 cubic metres per second.

Seawater surged upstream, rushing in to fill the vacuum caused by dramatically low water levels. This saltwater seeped into the earth and poisoned parched crops.

Spain prepares for winter drought with restrictions on filling pools and washing cars

Record food prices in 2022 due to Ukraine war and drought

What does the winter drought mean for farmers?

The vast flatlands surrounding the Po are Italy’s breadbasket, boasting tracts of wheat and rice crops. The river provides vital irrigation to this land.

A lack of winter snow - which has caused ski resorts to close across the continent - will likely have knock-on impacts for the harvest next summer.

Low rainfall means farmers can’t plough their land to plant seeds either.

"There are geological factors that prevent ploughing, the soil is so hard that the ploughshares can't cut through the earth,” Grappi says.

Watch the video 

Murder of the Dead by Amadeo Bordiga 1951

https://www.marxists.org › archive › bordiga › works

In Italy, we have long experience of “catastrophes that strike the country” and we also have a certain specialisation in “staging” them. Earthquakes, volcanic ...

Tax on farming emissions vital to Denmark's climate targets, says government adviser

Euronews
Tue, 21 February 2023

Tax on farming emissions vital to Denmark's climate targets, says government adviser

Denmark should aim to reduce beef and dairy production by introducing a farming emissions tax of 750 Danish crowns (€101) per tonne in order to reach its ambitious climate targets, the government's independent adviser said on Monday.

A tax on farming will increase the incentive for farmers to switch to crops and pork production which emit less greenhouse gases than cattle, according to a report by the Danish Climate Council. The council provides recommendations to the government.

The new government said in December it sees an emissions tax on farming as crucial to achieving a binding target of reducing CO2 emissions by 70 per cent of 1990 levels.

It would become the second country in the world to introduce such a tax after New Zealand announced it would put a price on agricultural greenhouse gases from 2025.

Skylarks, starlings and mistle thrushes: Endangered songbirds licensed to be killed for sport in UK

World’s oldest European hedgehog could provide hope for the future of the species

Emissions from farming are expected to grow in Denmark

Emissions from belching cows are a major component of agricultural methane. If no new policies are introduced, farming in Denmark is expected to account for around 40 per cent of emissions in 2030, the council says.

The sector currently accounts for 28 per cent of emissions, according to Statistics Denmark.

Emissions from beef and dairy production need to be reduced for Denmark to meet its climate targets. - Pexels

A carbon tax of 750 crowns per tonne would be similar to the level for other carbon-heavy industries which was agreed by the country's parliament in June last year. This levy is expected to play a big part in efforts to reduce national emissions and reach wider EU climate targets.

Government estimates say it could reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 3.7 mullion tonnes every year by 2030.

A farming lobby group has warned, however, that an agricultural tax would lead to a wave of bankruptcies among farmers.

Such a tax would "move jobs abroad and prevent Denmark from developing the solutions that can really make a difference to the climate", said Niels Peter Norring, head of climate for the Danish Agriculture & Food Council.

The industry should also look into alternative solutions like cattle feed additives, which could lower the amount of methane released from cows by 25 to 30 per cent, he said.

GUNS OR BUTTER; WAR CAPITALI$M

UK Tomato shortage widens to more fruit and vegetables and likely to last ‘weeks’

Michael Howie
Tue, 21 February 2023

A customer shops for vegetables in the fruit and vegetable section of a Sainsbury’s supermarket in east London on Monday (AFP via Getty Images)

A shortage of tomatoes affecting UK supermarkets is widening to other fruit and vegetables and is likely to last weeks, retailers have warned.

A combination of bad weather and transport problems in Africa and Europe has seen UK supermarket shelves left bare of tomatoes, as well as dwindling stocks of some other fresh produce.

Asda has introduced a customer limit of three on tomatoes, peppers, cucumbers, lettuce, salad bags, broccoli, cauliflower and raspberries, and Morrisons said it would be introducing limits of two items per customer across tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, peppers from Wednesday.

Other supermarkets are understood to be considering similar temporary measures.

It is understood that retailers believe the problems stem from poor yields on the continent and north Africa, and that supplies will improve in the coming days or weeks.

Supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers are able to access a wide range of fresh produce

Andrew Opie, of the British Retail Consortium

An Asda spokesman said: “Like other supermarkets, we are experiencing sourcing challenges on some products that are grown in southern Spain and north Africa.

“We have introduced a temporary limit of three of each product on a very small number of fruit and vegetable lines, so customers can pick up the products they are looking for.”

Andrew Opie, director of food and sustainability at the British Retail Consortium, which represents UK supermarkets, said: “Difficult weather conditions in the south of Europe and northern Africa have disrupted harvest for some fruit and vegetables including tomatoes and peppers.

“While disruption is expected to last a few weeks, supermarkets are adept at managing supply chain issues and are working with farmers to ensure that customers are able to access a wide range of fresh produce.”

Shoppers across the country have been sharing their frustration on social media after being unable to find certain products at their local stores.

Growers and suppliers in Morocco have had to contend with cold temperatures, heavy rain, flooding and cancelled ferries over the past three to four weeks – all of which have affected the volume of fruit reaching Britain.

Supplies from Britain’s other major winter source, Spain, have also been badly affected by weather.

Production problems in Morocco began in January with unusually cold night-time temperatures that affected tomato ripening.

These were compounded by ferry cancellations due to bad weather, hitting lorry deliveries.

Producers have also reported having to cut back on their use of greenhouses due to higher electricity prices.

However, UK producers are beginning to move into their growing season, which is expected to ease the longer term situation as retailers also look to alternatives to produce from Spain and northern Africa.

Tory ministers failing to help farmers deal with Brexit fallout, says NFU


Adam Forrest
Tue, 21 February 2023 

THE COW WHISPERER

Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer during his visit to Home Farm in Solihull, West Midlands (PA)

Rishi Sunak’s government is failing to “back up its rhetoric” with action to help farmers hit by post-Brexit changes, labour shortages and rising costs, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said.

NFU president Minette Batters warned that “the clock is ticking” on support for farmers and growers struggling with a wide range of issues – including the environment land management schemes (ELMs) aimed at replacing EU subsidies.

“We have seen progress”, said Ms Batters at the NFU conference in Birmingham – pointing to the prospectus for the post-Brexit subsidy scheme and increases to seasonal agricultural workers schemes.

But she added: “More often than not – it has been incredibly hard getting government to back up its rhetoric with concrete actions. The time is nearly up for government to demonstrate its commitment to food and farming in our great country, not just by saying they support us, but by showing us they do.”

The NFU president also said farms were struggling with labour shortages and soaring energy prices, with the poultry industry was “reeling from avian influenza”.

Ms Batters said costs in agriculture have risen almost 50 per cent since 2019 and UK egg production has fallen to its lowest level in nine years. “In 2022, UK egg packers packed almost a billion fewer eggs than they did in 2019,” she said.

Sir Keir Starmer addressed delegates at the NFU conference, where he pledged that 50 per cent all public sector food will be locally and sustainably produced under a Labour government.

The Labour leader promised a “better trading relationship” with the EU for farmers, as well as pushing for high British food standards.

Asked about labour shortages, Sir Keir warned: “I think the days of cheap labour in the way that we have had for many years are probably over.”

Ms Batters warned: “I won’t let the opposition off the hook either, I believe the rural vote will be crucial in the next election.”

Meanwhile, farming minister Mark Spencer said more than £168m in grants are to be made available to farmers this year – including money to boost food production, pay for equipment and automation, and fund smaller abattoirs.

Speaking at the NFU conference, Mr Spencer said the money will sit alongside the ELMs, which pay farmers for improving biodiversity on their land.

ELMs have taken five years to draw up and are the replacement for the EU common agricultural policy. Farmers can be paid for planting hedgerows and maintaining wildflower meadows and peatland.

Mr Spencer said: "The role farmers play in putting food on our tables as well as looking after our countryside is crucial. We know that sustainable food production depends on a healthy environment, the two go hand in hand.”

The Sunk government said it wants to offer £600m out of a £2.4bn budget to support productivity and animal welfare through grants and other measures.

It also said it wants to support small abattoirs which are “crucial” for the rural economy. “The availability of funding will help abattoirs to invest in new technology and improve productivity and animal health and welfare, allowing our agriculture sector to get its high-quality produce to market.”

UK Chancellor faces calls for bigger public sector pay after January budget surplus

Henry Saker-Clark, PA Deputy Business Editor

Tue, 21 February 2023 

Chancellor Jeremy Hunt is facing pressure to improve public sector pay rises for workers next month after official figures showed state finances were stronger than expected.

The Office for National Statistics revealed on Tuesday that the Government reported a surprise monthly surplus of £5.4 billion in January, driven by record returns from self-assessed income tax.

It comes weeks before Mr Hunt will set out his plans for tax and spending in the Budget on March 15.

Economists have highlighted that public finances are weaker than a year ago but appear noticeably more robust than recent forecasts.

(PA Graphics)

Cara Pacitti, senior economist at the Resolution Foundation, said: “The Chancellor is approaching his upcoming Budget with significantly healthier borrowing levels than was forecast last Autumn.

“The extra fiscal headroom should allow him take on some key issues, however – namely corporate reform, boosting workforce participation and preventing a spike in energy bills this spring.”

January’s figure was a £7.1 billion smaller surplus than in January 2022 but was £5 billion larger than had been previously predicted by the Office for Budget Responsibility.

A budget surplus takes place when tax revenue received is larger than government spending.

Economists were surprised by the surplus having predicted borrowing of £7.8 billion for the month, according to a consensus from Pantheon Macroeconomics.

The Chancellor said he was committed to reducing debt despite the improved monthly performance.

Mr Hunt said: “We are rightly spending billions now to support households and businesses with the impacts of rising prices – but with debt at the highest level since the 1960s, it is vital we stick to our plan to reduce debt over the medium term.

“Getting debt down will require some tough choices, but it is crucial to reduce the amount spent on debt interest so we can protect our public services.”

However, Michal Stelmach, senior economist at KPMG UK, said the figures showed finances are more than £30 billion better off than recent OBR forecasts projected.

He said: “Government spending on subsidies – which include the energy support – so far came in £6.8 billion below the £44 billion expected by the OBR this fiscal year, suggesting that milder weather and lower demand for gas have helped keep the cost down.

“Year-to-date borrowing has so far undershot the OBR’s forecast by £30.6 billion, which could tempt the Chancellor to offer a pay increase to public sector workers as part of his Budget next month, hoping to prevent another wave of strikes.”

Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC union, said the rosier picture means “the government is running out of excuses” not to offer an improved pay deal.
“Jeremy Hunt must come out of hiding and help break the deadlock on public sector pay,” he added.

However, Martin Beck, chief economic advisor to the EY ITEM Club, stressed that better borrowing figures “may not translate into more fiscal headroom for the Government”.

He said: “The extent to which the OBR deems the improvement in tax revenues to be structural is uncertain, and there’s a question mark over how it will adjust its estimates of the economy’s potential output growth in next month’s Budget.”

(PA Graphics)

The surplus was partly driven by £21.9 billion of self-assessed income tax receipts for the month, which represented the highest total for the month since records began in 1999.

This partly offset higher spending as a result of energy support for households and businesses due to rocketing prices.

In January, payments to energy suppliers hit roughly £8 billion as a result of the Government’s price cap schemes.

It also confirmed that the fourth round of payments under the energy bills support scheme – which paid £400 to households over six months to help cut their bills – cost a further £1.9 billion.

The ONS said central government spending jumped by more than £20 billion to £103.6 billion for January, compared with the same month last year.

This included £6.7 billion of interest on government debt – the highest January reading since records began.

January also saw a £2.3 billion charge to the UK brought by the EU and relating to undervalued customs duties on Chinese footwear and textiles while the UK was a member state.

The higher interest payment comes after continued interest rate increases by the Bank of England. The rate is now 4%.

The UK’s overall national debt was almost £2.5 trillion in January, reflecting an increase of £143.4 billion compared with the previous January.

It means debt as a share of the economy represented 98.9% of UK GDP, hitting levels “last seen in the early 1960s”, according to the ONS.