17/04/2026
Recent comments from Scottish Labour leader Anas Sarwar and SNP leader John Swinney suggesting that governments should control the price of certain foods may sound attractive, but the NBA’s assessment is that they are neither practical nor deliverable. Price controls always hit farmers first, because primary producers are the only part of the chain unable to pass costs on. Agriculture is devolved, but market regulation and competition law are not — meaning any attempt to fix food prices sits outside devolved powers. To many in the industry, this appears less like a workable policy and more like an attempt to catch votes with a headline‑friendly promise that has little real prospect of implementation. At a time of high production costs, proposals like this risk undermining farm viability and weakening the UK’s food security.
