Meat lobby and NFU mourn the resignation of disgraced MP Owen Paterson
The regret the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has expressed at the resignation of former Conservative MP Owen Paterson goes against public opinion, but is no surprise at all, writes Claire Hamlett.
President of the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) Minette Batters has expressed her “extreme sadness” to see Owen Paterson resign from his position as Conservative MP for North Shropshire following an official investigation into Paterson’s questionable lobbying activities.
Paterson, who was Environment Secretary from September 2012 to July 2014, was found to have repeatedly broken the rules governing the conduct of MPs when he lobbied on behalf of two firms - healthcare company Randox and meat producer Lynn’s Country Foods - which were paying him large sums of money yearly. Boris Johnson initially tried to scupper the outcome of the investigation but changed his mind in the face of backlash from Tory MPs. Instead of accepting a meagre punishment of a 30-day suspension from parliament, Paterson has resigned, insisting on his innocence and victimisation.
Batters’ feelings about the situation may go against political and public sentiment, but they are hardly surprising. Paterson has always been a good ally to the NFU. He campaigned on behalf of the dairy industry for the controversial badger culls to stop the spread of bovine TB, famously having accused badgers of “moving the goalposts” in response to accusations that the cull was failing. Wildlife campaigners have maintained that the cull is wrong to blame badgers for the spread of bTB, a view backed by various studies including a new one from Paterson’s old government department DEFRA.
He and DEFRA were also accused of “extraordinary complacency” on the harmful impacts of neonicotinoids on bees. In 2013, the UK tried to block an EU-wide ban on the insecticides based on what MPs and experts called “flawed studies”. The NFU also argued that the link between declining bee populations and neonicotinoids was uncertain and made a case against imposing restrictions on their use.
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Paterson has deep ties to and apparent love of industries of animal exploitation. Not only did he receive a tidy £12,000 a year since 2016 from Lynn’s Country Foods, but he also worked for his family’s leather business, the British Leather Company for 20 years, eventually becoming managing director. During that time he also became president of COTANCE, the European Tanners’ Confederation. He lists horse racing as one of his “interests” on his MP page. In a 2016 parliamentary speech, he argued that “Protection of the environment is not incompatible with safeguarding the fishing industry.” But industrial fishing is destroying marine life and polluting the oceans.
Paterson has also previously revealed himself to be a climate sceptic, having delivered in 2014 a speech riddled with inaccuracies to anti-climate action think tank the Global Warming Policy Foundation. He was in favour of expanding the UK’s airport capacity and exploiting reserves of shale gas through fracking, which never got off the ground thanks to activists and campaigners. He has often voted against climate action - as recently as 2020 - and in 2011 voted in favour of selling England’s publicly-owned forests.
Clearly, none of this could tarnish the NFU’s image of Paterson, but then the farmers’ union is no stranger to endorsing practices that are particularly cruel to animals. It is against the ban on live export of farmed animals (excluding poultry) for slaughter. It also claims to care about the climate while pursuing strategies that would only increase the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions, such as increasing beef production and boosting the export of British dairy, which was recently linked to deforestation for soy-based feed.
The meat lobby may well mourn Paterson’s departure from politics, but for animals and the natural world, it is certainly a win.
Claire Hamlett is a freelance journalist, writer and regular contributor at Surge. Based in Oxford, UK, Claire tells stories that challenge systemic exploitation of and disregard for animals and the environment and that point to a better way of doing things.
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