The National Farmers Union (NFU) has warned the UK leaving the EU will probably result in a short-term spike in the price of food, and has called for MPs to support farmers.
In the wake of Britain voting to leave Europe, NFU president Meurig Raymond has said the depreciation of the pound will drive food prices up.
Raymond said: "Sadly, we only produce 60% of the food we consume, we’ve seen our self-sufficiency fall dramatically, so we are very dependent on imported food. A weaker pound will mean higher imported food values."
He went on to describe the EU referendum result as a "political car crash". UK farmers, who currently receive up to £3bn in EU subsidies annually, are now headed into "uncharted waters".
Looking to the future, Matt Ware, the NFU’s head of government and parliamentary affairs, said that the union is now lobbying MPs to secure their support for farmers, as the UK exits the Common Agriculture Policy (CAP).
Ware said: "We are asking MPs to pledge their support for UK agriculture as we move towards an era outside the CAP. We are identifying where CAP worked well, and where it can be improved on, in a new British Farming Bill. Our priority is to ensure that successive governments protect the interests of all our members sectors for the long-term.”
On trade, Ware said the NFU is "pushing for the best possible access to the single market". He added: "We are urging government to open up new markets for British produce.”
This month Britain voted to leave the EU. On the morning of the historic vote, British Baker spoke to industry representatives about what this might mean for bakers.
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