• Ed Davey condemns Conservative “legacy of failure” as Lib Dems kick off General Election campaign in Wales
• The party has committed £1 billion extra funding for the agriculture budget, accusing Rishi Sunak of “taking farmers for granted”
• “This election gives Wales the opportunity of a lifetime to show the Conservatives the door”, Ed Davey will tell activists in Wales

The Liberal Democrats will today launch their general election campaign in Wales with a promise to reverse the Conservatives’ “legacy of failure” and champion British farming.

Speaking in Wales, Ed Davey will set out a rescue plan for farmers, including £1 billion in extra funding for the agriculture budget, re-negotiating botched overseas trade deals and addressing worker shortages blighting the sector.

Ed Davey will be joined by the Welsh Liberal Democrat Leader Jane Dodds, who has called on the Welsh government to deliver a fair payment scheme following the controversial Sustainable Farming Scheme being delayed until 2026.

The Liberal Democrats are hoping to oust Conservative MPs in seats where they are in second place, including the constituency of Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe in Wales.

Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said:

This Conservative Government has left a legacy of failure from the NHS to British farming.

In Wales, families and pensioners are bearing the brunt of a cost of living crisis and Conservative economic chaos in Westminster.

British farmers are the best in the business, but Conservative neglect has left too many farmers on their knees. Rishi Sunak takes farmers for granted.

This election gives Wales the opportunity of a lifetime to show the Conservatives the door, by voting for Liberal Democrats who will champion the best of Welsh farming.

Jane Dodds is standing up for farmers in Wales, just as the Liberal Democrats stand up for farmers across the UK.

The Leader of the Welsh Liberal Democrats, Jane Dodds MS, said:

It is fantastic to welcome Ed Davey to Wales this morning.

Up and down the country the message is clear, people want change and on the 4th of July the Welsh public will have the opportunity to deliver that change by voting for the Welsh Liberal Democrats, especially in seats like Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe where we came a close second to the Conservatives last time.

The Conservatives have consistently let down Wales, whether that’s with false promises of levelling up, selling Welsh lamb farmers down the river with broken trade deals or allowing water companies to dump sewage in our world-class rivers they have proven they won’t stand up for Wales or its interests.

By contrast, the Welsh Liberal Democrats have a long and proud history of putting local communities first and we will be campaigning hard to protect our countryside, give greater support to our rural communities and farmers and end the dentist drought across huge parts of the country.

Liberal Democrats will seek to:

• Raise the farming budget by £1 billion – an immediate injection of £1 billion into agricultural and horticultural budgets, taking them from £2.4bn to £3.4bn, to further support sustainable domestic food production, initially targeted at shortage areas. The funds would go towards productivity improvements, training and technology to bring down prices for the long-term and make the UK more resilient against import shocks, and would support farmers committed to a more sustainable environmentally-friendly direction for farming.
• Fix workforce shortages for farmers, fishers and food processing – let farmers, fishers and the food processing sector recruit the workers they need to boost our food supply by scrapping arbitrary visa salary thresholds. According to the NFU, a shortage of workers caused £60m worth of fruit and veg to go to waste in the first half of 2022. The union also said they need an additional 70,000 workers, when the Government’s ‘Seasonal Worker Visa’ only offers 55,000 positions. Meanwhile those working on fishing boats must apply for a skilled worker visa
• Fix botched trade deals – the Liberal Democrats call for the reopening of the Australian trade deal to ensure that British standards are not undercut and require Australia to meet climate change commitments. Introduce legislation to guarantee British standards of environmental protection and animal welfare in trade deals and giving Parliament the powers to approve negotiating mandates and give final approval of trade agreements.

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