MP told not to take his foot off the pedal

During the recent Anglesey NFU Cymru Annual General Meeting farmers congratulated Albert Owen, Anglesey’s Member of Parliament, for his work in Parliament on the Grocery Code Adjudicator but pleaded with him not to take his foot off the pedal.

NFU Cymru have lobbied hard for an Independent Adjudicator, known originally as an Ombudsman, which will once in place have the power to investigate and rule on complaints made by anyone in the supply chain.

Dewi Jones, Anglesey NFU Cymru County Chairman said, "I commend Albert Owen on his hard work on this issue, as an Adjudicator will benefit the whole supply chain – suppliers, retailers and consumers. However this now needs to be fast-tracked so that we all start to see the benefits and also to ensure that there are fewer instances of the bully-boy tactics sometimes used by supermarkets."

Reassuring farmers present of his commitment to the issue, Albert Owen MP, said, "I appreciate that the retail market remains unbalanced and this is an issue that must be addressed sooner rather than later. I am fully aware that the code of conduct alone is not sufficient and without a referee it’s not really worth the paper it’s written on and I will press for this legislation to be implemented as soon as possible."

Those present also asked their local Member of Parliament to stand by landowners and to protect Anglesey from further pylon scarring if Wylfa B becomes operational.

Dewi Jones said, "Whilst we all appreciate the economic value Wylfa B will bring to Anglesey and North Wales, in terms of boosting local employment, we do as landowners fear that the Island’s landscape will suffer from further scarring if more pylons are needed to transmit electricity from the new nuclear power station.

"It has become apparent to landowners that some new infrastructure is likely to be required and while we all appreciate that the transmission needs to be economical we don’t want any further damage to our landscape. Politicians need to put more pressure on the National Grid to invest in undersea and underground cables to protect our landscape."

Not wanting to mislead farmers present Mr Owen in his response sympathized with their concerns. With a project of this magnitude there will be some upheaval and Mr Owen said, "All other options should be explored in addition to overhead transmission cables."

NFU Cymru leaders on Anglesey remain unchanged for the coming year, Dewi Jones will remain as County Chairman and Christine Jones as Vice-chairman, both will take the county through to 2012. Dewi Jones ended, "Our thanks also go to HSBC Bank Plc for sponsoring the AGM and for giving those present their forecast trend in interest rates and level of sterling in relation to the euro in the next 12 months."