A WHITCHURCH business has taken to Westminster to raise concerns over trade deals that one MP has described as "thoughtless".

Helen Morgan, MP for North Shropshire, was joined by Tullis Matson and Pamela Humphreys of Stallion AI, in Whitchurch, last week for talks with a Defra minister.

Mrs Morgan took the concerns of county businesses directly to the Government in a meeting over the impact of trade deals on two important agricultural industries.

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Lord Douglas-Miller, Minister for Biosecurity, Animal Health and Welfare, heard their representations about the existential problems the industry is facing due to new red tape over imports.

Several stud farms in Shropshire fear losing huge amounts of business because of delays and costs they now face when transporting chilled equine semen.

The MP also made representations on behalf of potato farmers who have found it near-impossible to meet new trading standards, leading to a serious decline in production across the country.

This comes after a meeting at Maincrop Potatoes near Knockin, near Oswestry, earlier in the year.

Mrs Morgan described the new trading arrangements as ‘thoughtless and damaging’ to north Shropshire – an area where 93 per cent of land is agricultural and 18 per cent of jobs are in the agricultural sector.

“The new trading arrangements are both thoughtless and damaging for the agricultural sector,” she said.

“This is a particularly acute problem for those involved in importing and exporting certain goods, with several businesses in north Shropshire being hit hard.

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“I was very pleased to secure a meeting with the minister for Biosecurity, Animal Health and Welfare, in which I raised the cases of several local businesses and brought along members of the team at Stallion AI to make their case.

“We won’t have an agricultural sector left unless there are serious changes made to the way the Government does deals and treats the industry.

“Ministers need to understand that and change tack before it’s too late for too many rural businesses.”