Starmer warned his EU love-in is bugging farmers as red tape cuts allowing them to feed livestock eco-friendly insects and human food waste are held up while Labour woos Brussels

A new report today by the Conservative Environment Network also warns that the deal on a common sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) area - which would apply to the movement of flora and fauna - could also see the UK follow the bloc's rules on gene-editing, stymying attempts to produce higher-yield plants.

'Farmers should be free to take action to protect their incomes and the environment', it argues.

'Whilst the most egregious EU regulations ... have been abolished, regulatory reform must continue. 

'There are more than 3,000 environmental regulations, which sit alongside planning and scientific regulations. 

'Whilst any one regulation may seem sensible, the totality prevents farmers from having the flexibility to manage their land to better protect their incomes and restore our natural heritage.'

As well as allowing farmed insects to be fed to livestock the liberalisation would also allow some animal proteins to be fed to species less affected by the disease, including pigs and poultry, meaning more food waste could be recycled while keeping other restrictions in place.

CEN said the changes would cut the cost of feed for farmers while cutting emissions and creating new natural habitats.

It argued that the majority of the 10million tonnes of food waste produced annually in the UK is currently unusable and is simply thrown away.

The idea of making better use of food waste has also been championed by the World Wildlife Fund, which argued it would free up land to grow crops for humans as well.

And last year a report by the Wildlife Trusts estimated that some 520,000 to 580,000 hectares of wheat grown in the UK is needed for feed for pigs and poultry, equivalent to 34-38 per cent of the country’s total wheat crop, with an associated use of 2,621 tonnes of pesticides including fungicides. 

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