21/05/2025 The UK-EU deal, badger vaccination, Scottish climate targets

Farming Today

Border post facilities set up since Brexit to handle import checks could now be scaled down or even dismantled. The UK's new deal with the EU promises progress towards an agreement to reduce the paperwork and border checks involved in trading foods like meat and dairy. It also includes a deal on fishing which would allow EU boats to fish in British waters for a further 12 years. The Scottish Fishermen's Federation has called it "a horror show", but the DEFRA Secretary, Steve Reed, says it's a "reasonably good deal" for UK fishing.

In its manifesto the Labour party promised to end what it described as “the ineffective badger cull". The Government now says it's working on a revised TB eradication strategy, which includes increased badger vaccination and a national wildlife surveillance programme to better understand the disease. So how much difference could that make?

And a new set of targets to tackle climate change have been recommended to Scottish Government ministers, replacing those scrapped last year. A report from the Climate Change Committee suggests effectively delaying short term progress by six years, but keeping Scotland on track to meet its long-term goal of net zero emissions by 2045.

Presented by Anna Hill Produced by Heather Simons