As a member of the commission, I am in an ideal position to put forward the consumer voice and I will make myself heard. For instance, it is my long-held view that the Common Agricultural Policy acts against the consumer interest. But it's not just the CAP. Radical reform of all British food and agricultural policies is needed and the commission is the ideal forum to investigate options. It hardly needs repeating that public confidence in food safety has taken a severe battering over the last few years as repeated crises have unfolded. This commission has the opportunity to start us on the road towards restoring public confidence. But to do so, it will have to be perceived by the public as independent. That independence is, of course, partly achieved by the people who are appointed to the commission. However, it is also achieved through the methods of working and through the willingness of the commission itself to stand at some distance from the food chain. It must take a radical look at what the industry is delivering to consumers and society at large in return for substantial subsidy. I hope that the commission will also be able to start to join up food and farming policies with other important areas of detriment to consumers such as poverty and health. If the recommendations of this commission are to work, the interests of consumers must be at the heart. It is consumers who ultimately drive markets. As individuals we pay directly, either at the point of sale or through taxation. We also pay indirectly through impacts on the environment. That is why the commission must succeed in establishing itself as independent of vested interests. {{NEWS }}