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AFB Farms Hillsborough site receives huge amounts of taxpayers' money and its board is hand-picked by the Minister Andrew Moore
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Deara's policies are tested here and farmers are expected to implement their findings
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But it seems that AFB has had problems achieving what they say are workable targets
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In May 2025, whistleblowers approached politicians from Minister Moor's Alliance Party with concerns around animal welfare and pollution on the site
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And after months of silence, the whistleblowers approached GB News. I have been aware of this story from October last year
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but the Executive Information Service have continually blocked or denied any requests for an interview with the Agricultural Minister, Andrew Moore
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but in a meeting of the Agricultural Committee the Chair, Robbie Butler, asked the CEO of AFPE
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did he recognise any of the pictures or videos that were put to him
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The first question I want to ask is can you confirm looking at the pictures in the video that were shared by the whistleblower if they are indeed animals and machinery and the offbeat premises The majority of them we were able to verify on it I think there may have been one or two that we were maybe less certain about
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But I think it's fair to say the majority of them we did identify with. That shocking admission has angered both politicians and farmers alike
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calling for less civil service interference and what farmers see as two-tier enforcement
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We have a particular trail of thought among some career civil servants
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which is down the road of increased bureaucracy on businesses. It's unsustainable, it's not practical, it's not even deliverable
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We see that with the Climate Change Act. There needs to be a real stop. Civil servants are running this farm and there's pollution issues
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there's biosecurity issues and there's animal welfare issues. And if these issues were on any other farm around the country
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that farmer would be up on court. AFB have not faced any fines or real investigations
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but they have had time to release a video inviting all to the site
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AFBI is very happy to host any groups or individuals who wish to visit the site
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and or discuss our work and site practices. There's no surprise when I followed up on that invitation it didn't include me
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Doogie Beattie, GB News, Belfast
