FDF at the Political Party Conferences
FDF was involved in a number of fringe events at the main Political Party Conferences focussing on our theme of promoting the economic importance of the food and drink industry.
Labour Party Conference Roundup
The Food and Drink Federation (FDF) held two very successful events at Labour
Party Conference we also attended a series of meetings with key contacts.
FDF event with EEF and Fabian Society
Monday 1 October Melanie Leech, FDF Director General, was on the panel of
speakers at a private round table lunch hosted by FDF, EEF and The Fabian
Society
addressing the theme of Going for Growth: the new relationship between government and the economy.
The other speakers were economist Vicky Pryce, Lord Adonis who is leading the
industrial strategy review on behalf of Ed Miliband, and Steve Radley, Policy
Director at EEF.
The lunch was held under the Chatham House Rule but we are pleased to report a
good turnout of MPs and that the food and drink manufacturing industry in our 2020 vision is now on the agenda for Lord Adonis as he conducts his policy review.
FDF and National Farmers Union (NFU) fringe meeting
Later on Monday Melanie Leech was back as a panel speaker at the fringe meeting
we held in partnership with NFU.
We had another great turnout and a good debate about the role that research and
development can play in delivering affordable food security.
Shadow Secretary of State for Defra Mary Creagh said that she was open minded
about what new technologies such as GM had to offer to tackle food security.
Huw Irranca-Davies, Shadow Minister for Food and Farming welcomed Melanie's
call for politicians to lead the debate and then give business certainty about
the
direction of travel, investment and regulation for new technologies.
Conservative Party Conference Roundup
The FDF held a successful private dinner at Conservative Party Conference we
also attended a series of meetings with key contacts.
FDF Private Dinner at Conservative Party Conference
On Sunday 7 October Melanie Leech and Jim Moseley hosted a private dinner for
MPs chaired by John Stevenson MP at Conservative Party Conference in
Birmingham.
Our key note speaker was new Defra Secretary of State Owen Paterson.
The
conversation over dinner was conducted under the Chatham House Rule but we can
report
that he is in favour of looking at how new technology can be exploited to meet
many of the challenges that the food industry faces. Discussions included the
public acceptance of GM, commodity prices, the perception of the industry and
food
poverty.
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FDF live tweets from party conferences
During the Party conferences we 'tweet' about the latest from our
fringe
events - you can still catch up with us by following @Foodanddrinkfed. If you want to catch up on our tweets, then simply search Twitter by for the
hash tag #fdfpartyconf.
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More information
For all enquiries: Public Affairs Team at [email protected]
Last reviewed: 24 Jan 2014