Victoria Atkins

MP for Louth and Horncastle. Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs. Promoted by Victoria Atkins at PO Box 1385, LN4 4YZ.

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

Climate change is happening, nature is in decline and sticking with the failing status-quo is a choice.

Only the @Conservatives are choosing to take the bold action required to bring back common sense and real change for our countryside and coast. 🧵

[Conservatives @Conservatives]

They shall grow not old, as we that are left grow old:
Age shall not weary them, nor the years condemn.
At the going down of the sun and in the morning
We will remember them.

[Laura Trott MP @LauraTrottMP]

At last! Properly banning smartphones has taken forever to get Labour to agree to, but we are finally there and I am delighted.

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

The Full English - as dictated by Andy Burnham and the EU.

Labour is serving up our food laws to the EU on a silver platter.

We will have no say, no influence and no veto over the rules the EU sets.

[The Telegraph @Telegraph]

Andy Burnham will soon strike a major new food and drink deal with Brussels that means the Great British breakfast will never be quite the same again.

To meet the terms of the Prime Minister’s new deal, British law will have to be changed to match European rules on food and plants, with farmers and producers in some cases having to alter their methods, which could push up prices ⤵️

https://t.co/pFWHK0wi1S

[Andrew Griffith MP @griffitha]

Today’s interest rate hike could cost families on tracker mortgages £400 a year.

But why are rates going up?

Because Labour’s Jobs Tax and sky-high energy costs are fuelling inflation. 👇

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

Why can’t the Environment Secretary explain what she’s announcing?

What powers will these water councils have?

How much will these councils cost the taxpayer or bill payer?

Key questions we need answers to.

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

@TimesRadio @StigAbell Smokey bacon crisps matter, @angelaeagle, because your government is signing away control of our food laws to the EU.

We will have no say, no influence and no veto over the rules they set - as the question by @StigAbell demonstrates.

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

Smokey bacon crisps matter, @angelaeagle, because your government is signing away control of our food laws to the EU.

We will have no say, no influence and no veto over the rules they set - as the question by @StigAbell demonstrates.

[Times Radio @TimesRadio]

After the news smoky bacon crisps could fall foul of EU rules, environment secretary Angela Eagle tells @StigAbell to “get a life” when asked if she would be willing to sacrifice the flavour.

“This is actually about ensuring that we can do business with our closest neighbours.”

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

Rural crime has a devastating impact on our rural businesses and communities.

Already struggling with rising fuel, input costs and Labour’s higher taxes, the last thing our farmers and business owners need is the constant worry of stolen tools, machinery or livestock attacks.

These real concerns were expressed to me and Shadow Home Secretary @CPhilpOfficial by business owners and farmers at the NFU in Horncastle. We heard firsthand just how difficult enforcement is across Lincolnshire, where only four to six rural crime officers are assigned to our vast county.

That is why the Conservatives are prepared to make the necessary welfare cuts to fund 10,000 additional police officers, including 1,000 officers specifically dedicated to rural crime who understand the unique challenges our countryside faces every day and have published a plan to tackle rural crime.

But Government also needs to bring common sense and democratic accountability back to environmental policing.

For too long, unelected government bodies such as Natural England and the Environment Agency have failed to take a common sense approach to deliver for our countryside and coast. That’s why the Conservatives will abolish them – bringing the powers that work back under direct ministerial responsibility and eliminate the ones that fail to deliver.

To crack down on these fly-tippers, polluters and rural criminals, we need enforcement with serious teeth. Before entering politics, I prosecuted organised crime gangs. I know the lengths they will go to, I know what it takes and I am ready to lead this fight.

That’s why we will transfer core enforcement functions to a new Environmental Crime and Enforcement Authority, run jointly by DEFRA and the Home Office, rooted in common sense.

These plans were built on conversations with rural business owners and farmers like these in Horncastle, listening directly to their worries and frustrations. They need practical action, stronger enforcement and a government that listens to the realities of rural life and takes these criminals head on, before it’s too late.

Only the @Conservatives have a plan to secure our countryside, tackle rural crime and get Britain working again.

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

Beautifully read 🙄

[Emma Reynolds for Wycombe 🌹 @EmmaforWycombe]

Of course the brilliant men and women across the country who run small businesses are working people - they are the backbone of our high streets and our economy.

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

With reports of Labour’s handover to the EU of our food laws today, I’m reminded of the wise words of a Lincolnshire farmer: “If you’re not at the table, you’re on the menu.”

Here are some of the concerns and realities of what Labour’s EU handover actually means for British food, farming and drink 👇

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

Too many people are unaware of the serious repercussions Labour’s EU negotiations will have on our UK food, farming and drink sectors.

Labour is conducting these Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) negotiations in secret, without a clear mandate or firm red lines. Even more concerning, they have barely consulted the businesses most affected. Instead, they seem intent on going full steam ahead, handing over control of our regulations and leaving British consumers and businesses dangerously exposed.

That’s why the @Conservatives are raising the alarm. We want to promote and protect our farmers, food producers and scientists.

It is not about the past or re-litigating the referendum. It is about our future: the cost of food in our baskets and our ability to feed ourselves in an increasingly volatile world. It is about fairness and avoiding unfair competition with heavily-subsidised EU farmers – especially since Labour have cut the farming budget and stripped support from our own farmers.

We must recognise our national strengths in agriculture and veterinary standards from Precision Breeding to world-leading animal welfare standards.

Listen to some of the concerns the sector have shared with me and my analysis on Labour’s claims here 👇

[Dr Luke Evans MP @drlukeevans]

This is Emma Reynolds MP, Chief Secretary to the Treasury and Labour Treasury Minister.

So the Government thinks that if you own a cafe, restaurant, pub, shop, gym, salon, etc

You aren't a "working person"

Just let that sink in...

[James Cartlidge MP 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 @jcartlidgemp]

It is wholly inappropriate for any Defence Secretary to talk about the Chairman of the Defence Select Committee in this way – totally disrespectful.

Just because @TanDhesi had the temerity to question where the money is going to come from to get to 3% - given John Healey still has no plan, despite resigning over that very matter – it’s no excuse for @wesstreeting to vent his frustration in this way.

[Kevin Hollinrake MP @kevinhollinrake]

Budget Word Count:

Benefits 37
Welfare 23
Farming 0
Farmers 0

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

*This Budget does not come close to meeting the moment. It barely mentions the countryside, offers pennies off gherkins and boiled sweets for food security (?!?) and doubles down on the Family Farm & Family Business Taxes that are crippling investment in rural businesses.

And on fertiliser, your left hand doesn’t know what the far-left hand is doing: two weeks ago, the Chancellor and Labour MPs brought in a brand-new tax on fertiliser!

This confused approach to rocketing business costs faced by farmers and rural businesses helps to explain why families are finding their food shopping ever more expensive.

Not good enough, not strong enough and not bold enough.

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

*This Budget does not come close to meeting the moment. It barely mentions the countryside, offers pennies off gherkins and boiled sweets for food security (?!?) and doubles down on the Family Farm & Family Business Taxes that are crippling investment in rural businesses.

And on fertiliser, your left hand doesn’t know what the far-left hand is doing: two weeks ago, the Chancellor and Labour MPs brought in a brand-new tax on fertiliser!

This confused approach to rocketing business costs faced by farmers and rural businesses helps to explain why families are finding their food shopping ever more expensive.

Not good enough, not strong enough and not bold enough.

[Angela Eagle DBE @angelaeagle]

This Budget includes a strong package for the countryside, food security and economic growth: We're cutting fertiliser and food costs, making it cheaper to clear illegal waste sites, extending red diesel relief and reviewing tax relief for agricultural infrastructure

[GB News @GBNEWS]

'There is a real disconnect between this Government and rural and coastal communities.'

Shadow Environment Secretary Victoria Atkins DISAPPOINTED that there was nothing in the budget to help farmers after hints that the Family Farm Tax would be axed completely.

[Robbie Moore MP @_RobbieMoore]

Come off it. You have clearly been eating too many gherkins. They’re not making you think straight.

[James Cartlidge MP 🇬🇧 🇺🇦 @jcartlidgemp]

Healey fails his own test…

The Chancellor resigned as Defence Secretary because the cash Starmer offered would have left our country ‘less safe’.

Instead, he demanded 3% by 2030.

Now he’s Chancellor, the best he can offer is a plan to have a plan for 3%.

NO cuts to welfare to pay for Defence.
NO tough decisions today.
John Healey’s manana budget.

[Victoria Atkins @VictoriaAtkins]

NO CHANGE from Labour on the Family Farm & Family Business Taxes today. Shameful.

But our campaign continues because the @Conservatives know how damaging these vindictive taxes are to families across the UK.

And if Labour won’t AXE them in FULL, the next Conservative government WILL.