Video
Government in video gaffe after shots of EU farms used to promote post-Brexit plans
The opening to Defra's new video on the agriculture bill (Photograph: Defra) - Credit: Archant
Michael Gove's department has been forced to delete a video promoting UK farming after Brexit – because it featured stock images of farms from EU countries.
An image of a farm inspector in a cow shed was taken in Slovenia (Photograph: Defra) - Credit: Archant
The mistake was spotted shortly after the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) unveiled the video promoting what they claim will be a 'historic moment' for farmers when the UK leaves the EU.
But rather than use photographs from the UK to promote the country's 'brighter future for farming' the video features idyllic shots of farms overseas in EU countries.
As Farmers Weekly reports, the government used the video to pledge a reduction in red tape for farmers after Brexit, but used a still of a farmer inspecting a cow shed in Slovenia.
A pledge to improve air and water quality when Britain leaves the European Union was accompanied by an aerial shot of a German farm.
An aerial shot of a field in Germany (Photograph: Defra) - Credit: Archant
You may also want to watch:
Defra said it had produced the eye-catching video to outline plans to farmers to avoid the need to read pages and pages of the government's post-Brexit Agriculture Bill, but it appears to have irked them instead.
Stuart Roberts, vice-president of the National Farmers Union, tweeted: 'Come on @DefraGovUK we have some of the best farms in Europe working to some of the highest standards in the world.
Most Read
- 1 Brexiteer Prue Leith quits Tory Party after government votes down motion to protect UK food standards
- 2 Public slams Brexit Party tweet which shames Tory MPs who voted against free school meals
- 3 Piers Morgan must expose the government's Brexit betrayal
- 4 Group in protest against Tory MPs who voted down free school meals targets offices with empty plates
- 5 Peers set to remove law-breaking sections of Boris Johnson's Brexit bill
- 6 Tory minister blames journalists for NHS Test and Trace failure as he defends Dido Harding
- 7 Michel Barnier postpones Brussels return as Brexit trade talks in London continue
- 8 Brexit shambles: A stress of our own making
- 9 Priti Patel set to hand private firms £28 million in government contracts to deport asylum seekers from UK
- 10 Boris Johnson and Priti Patel urged to end 'attacks' on lawyers in letter by 800 legal professionals
'If showcasing future UK agriculture policy surely we must use UK farms not German or Slovenian ones.'
The video was removed from YouTube but was still available on social media at the time of writing.
A spokesman for Defra said: 'We have requested that the agency responsible for creating this video replace the relevant images and made it clear we expect higher standards in the future.'
MORE: 'That might be more of a problem' – Clueless Brexiteer left stumped during interview
MORE: Esther McVey 'didn't understand how Brexit works'
MORE: Support, subscribe or advertise - how to back The New European
Become a Supporter
The New European is proud of its journalism and we hope you are proud of it too. We believe our voice is important - both in representing the pro-EU perspective and also to help rebalance the right wing extremes of much of the UK national press. If you value what we are doing, you can help us by making a contribution to the cost of our journalism.
