Frustration mounts over lack of Brexit certainty

Frustration was boiling over around the country yesterday at the continued lack of clarity on the UK government’s plans for post-brexit farm policy.

Parliamentary committees at Holyrood and Westminster heard that huge questions still hung over how the high standards adoptedbyukfarmersand growers would be protected following the UK’S exit from Europe – and over the shape of domestic farm support measures.

Speaking at a meeting of the Scottish Parliament’s rural economy committee, cabinet secretary Fergus Ewing said that with only ten months to go to Brexit, and despite four meetings with Defra, he still could not say when the much discussed UK Agriculture Bill would come into effect, what it would contain or to what extent it would apply to Scotland.

He added: “There is still no clarity on what powers will be devolved to Scotland, no assurances of funding beyond the end of this parliament and no indication if Pillar 2 rural development funding which covers a vast array of long-term projects will continue.

“I don’t know how they 0 Fergus Ewing: no clarity on devolved powers will deal with important matters such as PGI and I don’t know what they will do in relation to the repatriation of meat levies.”

And he added that he didn’t know if the UK government’s policy would manage to avoid the “Armageddon” scenario which had been raised as a possibility in official advice which stated that if things went wrong, supermarket shelves could run out of food over the course of a few days.

Meanwhile in Westminster Neil Parish MP, chairman of the committee which scrutinises the workings of the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said more clarity on the new funding model for agriculture was essential for the future prosperity of UK farming.

He said that although Defra’s recent “Health and Harmony” consultation was ambitious, there was a “notable lack of detail” in the government’s paper and “more clarity on funding, delivery, and timing” was needed.

“As we leave the EU we must ensure that we maintain our standards, and that those importing into the UK meet our high standards of production,” said Parish.

His committee’s report on the topic said that the government should commit to funding the future agricultural policy using ring-fenced funds – and that trade agreements should mean that there was no race to the bottom on production standards.

“The government risks not achieving its ambition and risks damaging the sector. The government should respond to the farming sector’s concerns,” stated the report.

English NFU president Minette Batters said that the findings of the Efra Select Committee would be welcomed by farmers and that the long-term nature of farming businesses meant there was an urgent need for clarity.