Farming community left 'disgusted' by PM's comments, FUW says

The process of slaughtering healthy pigs has begun on many a British farm, with farmers forced to kill animals to make space and ensure welfare of their livestock.

This comes following an ongoing shortage of workers at slaughterhouses brought on by both Brexit and the Covid-19 pandemic.

Industry experts said the carcasses would most likely be turned into biodiesel and other non-food products, because they cannot be classed as fit for consumption.

Prime Minister Mr Johnson angered farmers all over the country with comments made during in an interview with Andrew Marr last week.

He said: "I hate to break it you Andrew, but our food processing industry does involve the killing of a lot of animals. That is the reality. Your viewers need to understand that is what happens."

He also went on to seemingly blame the industry for not providing the pay or conditions to attract enough domestic workers to the job by adding: "You are talking again about a shortage of a particular type of workforce,”

“What I think needs to happen… there is a question about the types of job that are being done, the pay that is being offered, the levels of automation, the levels of investment in those jobs.”

The FUW have labelled Mr Johnson's views on the industry as 'disgusting'.

A spokesperson said: "Thankfully it seems that Wales is far less impacted by this problems because we have so few pigs compared with England, but this and other Brexit problems affecting the food supply chain have been warned of by the FUW and other industry bodies for years, and we have repeatedly highlighted a list of actions that only the UK Government can take to prevent what is now happening.

"It is therefore quite disgraceful for the UK Government to blame industry for not preparing for the impacts of Brexit when they have refused to listen for so long, and the Prime Minister's comments about the crisis have particularly disgusted the farming and food producing community."