Jamie Oliver stands up for food and farming standards

Celebrity chef Jamie Oliver has backed a petition calling on the UK Government to protect farmers in future trade deals.

The petition, launched by the NFU south of the border, urges government to commit in law that food that would be illegal to produce in the UK will not be imported as part of future trade deals.

In a video on social media, Oliver criticised MPs for rejecting an amendment to the UK Agriculture Bill which would have required all imports to be produced to the same standards as the UK.

“We want standards and structures and law to maintain what we’ve worked hard for,” said the chef, whose support for the petition resulted in a surge in signatures from just over 30,000 on Sunday to more than 120,000 yesterday afternoon.

The petition is online here.