Roger Williams, Lib Dem shadow secretary of state for Food and Rural Affairs, is the subject of an interview in the Voice’s favourite read, Horticulture Week. He gives his views on Defra, the party’s call for a supermarket ombudsman, soft landscaping and school visits to rural industries. Here’s an excerpt:
An issue on which the Lib Dems have long been vocal is the creation of a supermarkets ombudsman, as Williams is keen to point out. He explains: “The Liberal Democrats have led the call for an ombudsman. The way in which horticultural producers and top fruit producers have been treated by the supermarkets has been absolutely appalling.
“The key thing now though is: are we going to get an ombudsman with teeth? It is in the supermarkets’ interest to have viable producers in this country because there is huge demand for British products, and if people can buy British they will. But it can only take place if there is fair trade throughout the food chain and the ombudsman or regulator is key to that.”
He would like a proactive regulator that can initiate investigations to stop supermarkets from “putting impositions on producers”. And, unlike others in the debate, Williams would like to see the regulator’s powers extended to include “non-edible things like flowers”.
You can read the interview with Roger here in full.
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The trouble is that an ombudsman is an administrative solution that ultimately will not work as I argue in this post.
http://liberaleye.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/economies-of-bullying/