Queen’s Speech reinforces foundation for Honest Crust Act

On Thursday 19 December, the Queen delivered a speech outlining the new government's priorities. The 151 page briefing document that accompanied the speech includes three commitments aligned with the Real Bread Campaign’s long-standing call for improved loaf marketing and labelling legislation:

• ‘Championing British food with a transparent and fair supply chain from farm to fork.’ (Agriculture Bill, p.17)
• ‘Powers to improve transparency and fairness in the supply chain and provide consumers with more information about how their food is produced.’ (Agriculture Bill, p.18)
• ‘…the Government is working with the Scottish and Welsh Governments and will work with a reconstituted Northern Ireland Executive on common frameworks such as food labelling.’ (Strengthening the Union, p. 121)

Real Bread Campaign co-ordinator Chris Young said: “These commitments on transparency, fairness, labelling, and other provision of information about how food is produced reinforce the promise we previously secured from the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. We remain committed to holding Defra to this.”

Previous promise

In November 2018, Michael Gove wrote: “I share your clear desire for consumers to have clear and accurate information about the food that they buy […]we have an opportunity to review this […] so that consumers have the information they need to have full confidence in the food they buy and this is something my department has committed to.”

Support for small business

The Queen’s speech also included commitment that should be good news for small bakeries: ‘...doubling the threshold for Small Business Rate Relief – meaning over 675,000 of the smallest businesses now pay no rates at all.’

See also

• Sourdough code of (mal)practice?
• Sustain responds to the Queen's Speech
• Seven ways we must hold our Government to account for their promises on food, farming and fishing