Oldham MP Jim McMahon has accused the Government of lacking ambition as it unveiled its new food strategy amid the cost of living crisis.

The strategy, published on Monday, is in response to a major review of the country’s food system by Leon restaurant co-founder Henry Dimbleby.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said it sets out how the Government will support farmers, boost British industry and safeguard food security.

But ministers have been accused of concocting a blueprint “bordering on the preposterous”, apparently shunning key recommendations from Mr Dimbleby’s review.

A leaked draft of the strategy, published by The Guardian on Friday, caused a stir when it appeared to reveal calls for a sugar and salt reformulation tax, along with a suggestion that the budget for farmer payments should be guaranteed until 2029, had been ignored.

The National Farmers Union said ministers had “stripped to the bone” proposals from the Dimbleby review, while Mr McMahon, who is Labour's Shadow Secretary for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said the document was “nothing more than a statement of vague intentions”.

Launching the strategy on Monday, the Government said it had accepted “the majority of recommendations” from the report, with policy initiatives to boost health, sustainability and accessibility of diets, and to secure food supply.

One clear priority for ministers is to reduce the distance between farm and fork, with a vision for 50 per cent of public sector food spend to go on food produced locally or certified to higher standards.

The strategy also sets out plans to create a new professional body for the farming and growing industry, to boost training and develop clear career pathways, equipping people and businesses with the skills needed to run sustainable and profitable businesses.

Mr Johnson said: “Our food strategy sets out a blueprint for how we will back farmers, boost British industry and help protect people against the impacts of future economic shocks by safeguarding our food security.

“Harnessing new technologies and innovation, we will grow and eat more of our own food – unlocking jobs across the country and growing the economy, which in turn will ultimately help to reduce pressure on prices.”

But Mr McMahon, who represents Oldham West and Royton, said: “The UK is in a cost of living crisis with food prices spiralling, real-wages falling and taxes up.

"It is clear now that the government has absolutely no ambition to fix the mess they have created.

“A food strategy is of vital importance, but after over a year of promises, the Government has failed to deliver much more than a new slogan. 

“The Government themselves say the food industry is bigger than the automotive and aerospace industries combined, yet all they have done is re-announce existing funding."

Mr McMahon added: "Just days after Britain's biggest fertiliser producer announced the closure of one of its plants, there is nothing in here to tackle this growing crisis.

“This is nothing more than a statement of vague intentions, not a concrete proposal to tackle the major issues facing our country.

"To call it a food strategy is bordering on the preposterous.  Yet again this tired, out of ideas Conservative government is failing to show the ambition our country needs."