At this crucial time, it is very important that we clearly set out our support and commitment for food and farming, the environment and for our rural areas and landscapes. 20 per cent of the population of the UK population live in rural areas, preserving a countryside enjoyed by millions while supporting a tourism industry worth £21 billion. Many are, of course, worried that leaving the EU means we will lose not only automatic access to the single market, but also the subsidies provided by the EU’s common agricultural policy, and the effect this might have on rural areas and industries. Those subsidies are substantial, in 2015 the average farm received 13 times as much money in grants as it did from agriculture.
There is some detail about our strategy in our manifesto, including the good news that the overall cash support for farming will continue until 2022:
Our countryside communities (page 25/26)
We will bring sustainable growth to the rural economy and boost our rural areas, so that people who live in the countryside have the same opportunities as those who live in our towns and cities. We have huge ambitions for our farming industry: we are determined to grow more, sell more and export more great British food. We want to provide stability to farmers as we leave the EU and set up new frameworks for supporting food production and stewardship of the countryside. So we will continue to commit the same cash total in funds for farm support until the end of the parliament.
We will work with farmers, food producers and environmental experts across Britain and with the devolved administrations to devise a new agri-environment system, to be introduced in the following parliament.
Our countryside and rural communities have been moulded by generations of farmers. We will help Natural England to expand their provision of technical expertise to farmers to deliver environmental improvements on a landscape scale, from enriching soil fertility to planting hedgerows and building dry stone walls. We will deliver on our commitment to improve natural flood management, such as improving the quality of water courses to protect against soil erosion and damage to vulnerable habitats and communities.
We will continue to ensure that public forests and woodland are kept in trust for the nation, and provide stronger protections for our ancient woodland.
We will continue to take action to improve animal welfare. We will implement our proposed reforms on pet sales and licensing and will make CCTV recording in slaughterhouses mandatory.
As we leave the European Union, we can take early steps to control the export of live farm animals for slaughter.
We will also take steps to enhance the provision of public services in rural areas. We will safeguard the post office network, to protect existing rural services and work with the Post Office to extend the availability of business and banking services to families
and small businesses in rural areas. A third of all SMEs in rural areas use their post office weekly and our ambition is that all routine small business and consumer banking services should be available in rural post offices. We will support pharmacies and village schools in rural areas.
We will grant a free vote, on a government bill in government time, to give parliament the opportunity to decide the future of the Hunting Act.
Finally, we pledge to be the first generation to leave the environment in a better state than we inherited it. That is why we shall produce a comprehensive 25 Year Environment Plan that will chart how we will improve our environment as we leave the European Union and take control of our environmental legislation again.
I do understand that leaving the EU means some uncertainty for British farmers and food producers, however, the UK is a net importer of food and therefore a very attractive market for agri-food products both from the EU and globally. Post-Brexit we will be able to set own tariff schedules and negotiate new trading relations with the EU and the wider world, but also develop our own British Agricultural Policy, which can better target the areas most worthy of support, both in terms of farming and the environment.
Talking to farmers recently at our livestock markets in Thirsk and Malton, it was quite clear that many would prefer to see a subsidy-free future with any support targeted at the least productive land, such as hill farms.
My own view is that changes to support should:
- Be introduced gradually to allow businesses time to adapt and invest
- Help farmers become more self sufficient
- Provide opportunities for young and new farmers to start up and prosper
- Encourage a mix of livestock and arable land
- Discourage the intensive use of antibiotics
- Move towards subsidy-free future for most farms
- Provide money and incentivise investment for research and innovation
- Encourage automation such as driverless tractors and technologies which make more efficient use of water, fertiliser and pesticides
Please do let me have your views by emailing office@kevinhollinrake.org.uk