Last week we received the great news that the US is finally lifting a decades-old ban on British lamb imports from the beginning of 2022, writes Craig Williams MP.

This is brilliant news for Montgomeryshire’s farmers, and follows the US removing a similar ban on British beef imports recently.

Last week we received the great news that the US is finally lifting a decades-old ban on British lamb imports from the beginning of 2022.

This is brilliant news for Montgomeryshire’s farmers, and follows the US removing a similar ban on British beef imports recently.

The US is the world’s second-largest importer of lamb and mutton in the world and this move therefore provides a fantastic boost to the UK’s sheep sector; with the Agriculture and Horticulture Development Board estimating the US market to be worth £37m over the first five years of trade, and many more valuable opportunities opening up to British sheep farmers and meat processors as a result.

It also reinforces the UK Government’s commitment to securing access for British farmers to new and lucrative markets across the world.

It is brilliant news that Montgomeryshire and UK sheep farmers will finally be able to resume exporting their produce to the US, and that people across America will once again be able to enjoy Welsh lamb – the best lamb in the world.

Within Parliament this week, I am focussed on the Nationality and Borders Bill.

This will introduce a complete overhaul of the asylum system and enable us to properly protect our borders and help put an end to the small boat challenge in the English Channel.

The Bill is the first of its kind in decades. It will include a one-stop appeals process to prevent the endless appeals that follow failed asylum applications. We will also have the ability to process claims outside of the UK and legally differentiate between those that arrive directly in the UK and those who have passed through safe countries first.

This is a part of the wider plan for immigration that the UK Government is introducing, which will deter illegal entry into the UK.

We must remember that many who are smuggled into the UK are often victims of modern slavery and organised crime, and the Bill will aim to reduce the ‘pull factor’ and break up criminal gangs that treat humans as a commodity, as we so tragically witnessed recently with the 27 lives which were lost in the Channel.

I hope these changes will bring confidence to our border security, as I know that many constituents in Montgomeryshire see this as one of the main, if not the key issue for us to tackle in this Parliament.