Prince Charles criticises Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and its handling of agricultural policies.

Farmers 'let down' by ministers, says Charles - Sunday Telegraph

Extracts:

"The Government is jeopardising Britain's rural communities by failing to give proper support to farmers, says the Prince of Wales.

The "guardians of our countryside" have been let down and face a bleak future, he says in a veiled attack on the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) and its handling of agricultural policies.

In a letter to a farming charity, he said farmers were enduring "some of the toughest times in living memory" because of the fiasco over missing subsidy payments that has left many facing ruin."

"More than 116,000 farmers across the country were supposed to have received their subsidies by mid-2006. By February this year, however, 25,000 cases were still under review, with the sums involved ranging from a few hundred pounds to tens of thousands. About 10,000 farmers have not yet received anything.

This has cost debt-ridden farmers big sums in bank interest, and contributed to a huge rise in the numbers struggling to survive. Calls to the Farm Crisis Network from farmers asking for financial and psychiatric help rose by 60 per cent last year to the highest level since the foot-and-mouth outbreak in 2001."

Defra has been one of the government's more spectacularly poorly performing departments...)o: - The Department of Health is the worst...)o:


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Disquiet over huge compensation paid from taxpayers' money to Bernard Matthews, the turkey products company associated with the bird flu outbreak.

Disquiet over pay to 'bird flu farmer' - Independent

Extract:

"Jack Straw, the Leader of the Commons, said he was "uncomfortable" with the payment of £589,000 in compensation by the taxpayer to Bernard Matthews, the turkey products company at the centre of the bird flu outbreak.

Some 159,000 turkeys were culled at Bernard Matthews' Suffolk farm to prevent the H5N1 virus spreading. The firm will be reimbursed between £3 and £4 per bird, depending on their age, by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

Mr Straw told MPs: "All of us are uncomfortable about the reports of high levels of compensation to Mr Matthews' firm.""

Bernard Matthews turkey plant will not be prosecuted about food hygiene failings at the time of bird flu incidence.

Watchdog clears Bernard Matthews plant - Independent

Extract:

"A Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs report published in February listed a catalogue of failings at the turkey plant.

Inspectors saw gulls feeding on meat scraps left in uncovered waste bins and polythene bags used for meat products left in open bins.

But the Food Standards Agency today said its probe had found "no evidence" that the firm breached animal by-product or food hygiene laws.

The watchdog said in a statement: "We have carefully scrutinised and considered the evidence in this case and concluded there is insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction.

"Accordingly, we have decided not to proceed to a prosecution in this case."

The FSA said its decision followed a thorough examination into possible problems with food waste storage at the Bernard Matthews site.

Defra said the FSA had been investigating Bernard Matthews on its behalf. "


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