The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
Gove assurance to livestock farmers over compensation
Need for help in case of no-deal Brexit
Livestock farmers will be compensated if markets collapse in the event of a no-deal Brexit, Environment Secretary Michael Gove revealed when addressing north-east farmers at Keith.
He was speaking at a meeting convened by NFU Scotland and hosted by council member Graeme Christie on the family farm of Edintore.
Mr Gove said support would be needed to compensate farmers for the imposition of tariffs, which could be 40% or more, on exports of beef and lamb.
He will be outlining his proposals to Scottish industry leaders in Edinburgh on Monday and will also be meeting Scotland’s rural secretary, Fergus Ewing, in a bid to persuade the Scottish Government to adopt a similar policy.
“I’m confident we will reach a deal with EU on Brexit but our contingency plans are well advanced in the event of a no-deal,” Mr Gove said.
“All livestock sectors will be included in the proposed compensation scheme, including dairy, but the sheepmeat sector is the most vulnerable and will need to be protected.”
It was in the interests of the rest of Europe, as well as the EU, to achieve a deal as Europe exported £40 billion of foodstuffs to the UK, which was double that of the UK to Europe.
He warned that the EU might insist on extending the timescale for negotiations by as much as two years if the UK wanted to move its exit date beyond March 29 to enable negotiations on a deal to continue.
NFUS vice-president Martin Kennedy said he had always assumed that an extension, if required, would be for only two or three months.