CHEAPER FOOD AFTER EU EXIT
Experts now say that prices will come down
BREAKING free of the EU will send the cost of food tumbling, economic experts said yesterday.
Their report predicts “staggering” food price rises for consumers in Europe, which the UK can avoid through Brexit.
Productivity on British farms is being strangled by red tape under the EU Common Agricultural Policy, it warns.
The report was released as Europhile former deputy prime minister Nick Clegg was slammed for predicting “inevitable” rises in the price of food and drink if the Government opts for a “hard Brexit”. Mr Clegg, who has admitted he is plotting to derail Brexit, said grocery bills will bear the knock-on costs of “whopping” tariffs on imported foods.
But in reality, the Institute of Economic Affairs report says, Britain has an “unrivalled opportunity” to escape the EU’s “costly agricultural regulations” which are
likely to send food prices soaring. The report also said quitting the EU would make it easier to buy food from around the world and further bring down prices.
The Institute of Economic Affairs study was carried out by former NFU chief economist and Government adviser Sean Rickard.
It describes the Common Agricultural policy as the EU’s most expensive, costing £360billion between 2015 and 2020.
Mr Rickard cites the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs as saying that 53 per cent of its regulations come from the EU or international bodies.
And he puts the cost of complying with EU regulations at £590million a year in England alone, saying this “significantly underestimates” the true cost of regulations.
Mr Rickard says: “There is growing concern that EU agri-food regulations are burdensome, intrusive and stifling, with adverse consequences for productive efficiency.”
Institute of Economic Affairs director general Mark Littlewood said of the report: “EU member states face staggering food price rises unless the march of increased regulation is halted.
“The UK is fortunate that it now has the opportunity to repatriate control of farming regulations.”
Referring to “potentially crippling costs” due to over-regulation, he added: “Brexit holds many opportunities for reducing food prices. Our new trading options will also be substantial.
“Rather than an arbitrary focus on trade with EU countries, we can look outwards as it becomes much easier to engage with new markets for food across the globe.”
In a London speech Lib Dem Mr Clegg predicted a 59 per cent levy on beef, 38 per cent on chocolate, 40 per cent on New Zealand lamb and 14 per cent on Chilean wine.
But UKIP leadership candidate Bill Etheridge slammed this as aping the Project Fear campaign of the pro-EU camp in the referendum.
He dismissed such claims by proEU politicians as “a return of economically illiterate bullying”.
He added: “The fact is we have been subsidising artificially high food prices via the Common Agricultural Policy. Brexit can and will lead to lower food prices.”
The pressure group MigrationWatch said Brexit is a chance to improve productivity and raise wages for farm workers.
EU rules allow thousands of workers, mainly from Eastern Europe, to work on farms, depressing wages.
The National Farmers’ Union warned that the degree to which regulation was reduced, and food prices cut, would depend on the outcome of the Brexit negotiations and trade deals with other nations.
And it said a labour shortage meant overseas seasonal workers were essential on farms.
AS ROSS CLARK explains on this page Nick Clegg’s claim that Brexit will cause food prices to rise is difficult to swallow. In reality, as a new report from the Institute of Economic Affairs points out, Brexit is likely to mean cheaper food on our shelves.
At present we are forced to comply with the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy. This is a nightmarish system full of bizarre rules and costly regulation that prevents our farmers from achieving their full potential.
It is also a prime example of why setting policy in Brussels is doomed to fail. Just think of the differences in the climate and conditions faced by a farmer in Greece and one in Poland. It is surely obvious that a one size fits all policy intended to govern the whole of the EU cannot possibly work.
Then one must also consider the almighty power of the French farmers. As a major part of their national economy they wield an undue influence at a European level ensuring that the rules are too often rigged in their favour.
On June 23 Britain voted to take back control. When Brexit finally happens we can set policies that give our farmers the help they need while slashing the burden of excessive regulation.
This will not just be good for farmers, it will be good for shoppers on a budget too.