Defra Secretary of State Michael Gove, has thanked farmers in his address to the Conservative Party conference, calling them the “tens of thousands” of “great people I get to work with”.

In a speech in which the predominant theme was preventing ocean plastic pollution, Gove said that leaving the EU would allow the government to “act faster and more flexibly to sweep away the barriers which have stood in the way of modernising farming.

Our new agriculture bill will help farmers to be more productive and ensure they get a fair price for their produce”.

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After Brexit, Gove said that the UK government would publish a new food strategy for Britain.

“If we are to feed a hungry world and safeguard the soil, the water and the air on which sustainable food production depend, then we in Government need to act to secure a better future for farming,” he said.