Supermarket overseer plea by farmers

The Government has once again come under pressure to create a figure to oversee the supermarket industry, with a decision now expected from ministers early in the New Year.

National Farmers’ Union president Peter Kendall pressed Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg on the issue during a face-to-face meeting brokered by fellow Lib Dem MP Tim Farron, himself a former shadow Defra minister before the 2010 general election.

Mr Kendall told the deputy prime minister that the appointment of an adjudicator was vital for the British farming industry in terms of securing a fair deal for farmers.