Javid unveils £3bn bid to ensure farming thrives following Brexit
Need to safeguard agriculture
CHANCELLOR SAJID Javid has said farmers can enter the New Year with confidence that they will be able to “thrive” after Brexit as he confirmed just under £3 billion of funding for 2020.
The money – to be spread over two years – will be used to support farmers when the UK leaves the European Union and the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) direct payments scheme next year.
It will allow funding for direct payments for 2020 to continue at the same level as this year, and supplement the remaining EU funding that farmers will receive for development projects until 2023.
Mr Javid, inset, said: “When we leave the EU and are freed from the CAP we will be able to support our vital rural communities - who are a cornerstone of life in the UK with a fairer and less bureaucratic system.
“Farmers can enter the new year with confidence that they have our backing and will be able to thrive after Brexit.”
Environment Secretary Theresa Villiers added: “Outside the EU we will have a simpler, fairer funding system – one that rewards farmers for enhancing our environment and safeguarding our high animal welfare standards.
“We are committed to making sure our rural communities feel the benefits of Brexit and will ensure our farmers get a better deal.”
NFU Director of EU Exit Nick von Westenholz welcomed the confirmation of the Conservative’s manifesto pledge to maintain current levels of support. However the Government needed to also give a “clearcut commitment that domestic producers will not be unfairly undermined by imports from overseas produced to standards that would be illegal here.”
FARMERS ARE likely to give a cautious welcome to the Government promise of £3bn to support them when Britain leaves the EU and its Common Agricultural Policy next year.
On the one hand, the money represents a recognition that agriculture will need continuing aid, which is a positive step.
But on the other, the funding will be spread over two years and there is still an absence of long-term planning for farming after Brexit.
As the NFU makes clear, farmers need to be able to plan ahead and any Government strategy for the future has to address issues beyond subsidies, particularly a fairer share of returns from the food supply chain.
Farmers are still at the mercy of the supermarkets over prices for their produce, and the new start that Brexit represents is an opportunity for a comprehensive review of how agriculture is to thrive in the years and decades ahead.
It has been a feature of the deadlock over Brexit that the Government has given too little thought to agriculture, taking it for granted that farmers will continue to put food on Britain’s tables.
Such a mindset is unacceptable. Serious questions, and potential risks, lie ahead for agriculture, not least the threat of imported food produced to questionable welfare standards undercutting our own farmers.
The funding announced today is a step in the right direction, but farmers have yet to be fully reassured that the Government is doing enough to safeguard agriculture, which is vitally important to the country.