Blair asking a lot of consumers and farmers - Huhne

6.34.06pm UTC (GMT +0000) Tue 9th Jan 2007

Speaking ahead of today's (Tuesday) endorsement by the Prime Minister and David Miliband of the 'Just Ask' local food campaign, Liberal Democrat Environment Secretary, Chris Huhne MP said:

"Tony Blair is asking a lot of the British public when his government has done so little to tackle food miles.

"The Government has refused to put a duty on air freight so it cannot be too worried about the air miles of apples from South Africa.

"We've also seen Government budget cuts to the organisation responsible for promoting British food.

"Farmers can't trust ministers on local food after the debacle of the single farm payments and Government inaction to break what the Prime Minister described over six years ago as the 'armlock' supermarkets have on farmers.

"More should be done to ensure customers are aware of the harm caused by food miles. But consumers will only be persuaded if they are shown leadership."

Applicability: this item refers to England and Wales. Due to devolution, detailed policy may be different in other areas of the UK.