Image source: the Guardian

Reform UK farming adviser urges trade policy to double UK wheat prices

Clive Bailye, Reform UK farming adviser, suggested using trade policy to double wheat prices. Critics warn the move would raise food costs amid a cost‑of‑living crisis; Reform UK says it seeks fair trade and food security.

The Reform UK farming and land-use adviser, Clive Bailye, has proposed using trade policy to sharply raise the price paid to growers for wheat, claiming political will could double prices quickly.

Critics warn that raising wheat prices via trade policy or import restrictions would worsen the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and harm food security by increasing consumer bread and feed costs.

The article places Bailye—an arable farmer who organised a milling wheat strike—as an influential input into Reform UK’s draft agricultural manifesto, while the party denies supporting deliberate consumer price rises.

Opponents say the proposal could trigger tariffs and export retaliation that would damage meat exporters, and point to related contentious ideas such as importing chlorinated chicken and scaling back environmental protections including rewilding.

The piece notes broader pressures on farming incomes from changes like the new inheritance tax for farmed land and rising fertiliser prices, factors Reform UK says it will address to protect domestic agriculture.

What position do you feel closer to?

Reform UK agri-supporters

Bailye’s call to use trade policy to lift wheat prices is a necessary shock to protect British farming, food security and rural livelihoods, even if it means modestly higher food prices now.

Cost-of-living advocates

Using trade policy to double wheat prices during a cost-of-living crisis is reckless and regressive, shifting the burden of farm support onto already‑stretched households.

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