Michael Gove’s reforms to agricultural subsidies risks seeing the return of horsemeat into the food chain, head of the farmers’ union says today.

Minette Batters, the president of the National Farmers’ Union, warned that encouraging cheaper food imports could see horsemeat mixed into meat supplies by overseas suppliers.

Under a new Agriculture Bill published on Wednesday, farmers will be paid for "public goods" such as curbing flooding and improving access to the countryside after Brexit.

The current system of subsidies paid for the amount of land being farmed will be phased out over a seven-year period between 2021 and 2027.

The plans were welcomed by rural groups including the National Trust and the Campaign to Protect Rural England.