Leadsom's red tape vow '˜not enough' for farmers

Mrs Leadsom said Brexit is an unprecedented opportunity to design a modern British farming policy - one without stifling bureaucracy that dictates how many crops farmers can grow and requires them to erect billboards to publicise their EU funding.

The Minister, speaking at the Oxford Farming Conference, said: “For too long, a bureaucratic system which tries to meet the needs of 28 countries has held farmers back. But now, leaving the EU means we can focus on what works best for the United Kingdom.

“By cutting the red tape that comes out of Brussels, we will free our farmers to grow more, sell more and export more great British food whilst upholding our high standards for plant and animal health and welfare. My priority will be common sense rules that work for the United Kingdom.”

But the Minister’s speech avoided key issues, said Baroness Kate Parminter, the Liberal Democrat Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

“Andrea Leadsom has said nothing about the two most important questions facing UK farmers - whether they will still have access to the single market and what subsidies they can expect to receive post-2020,” Baroness Parminter said.

“The single market is vital for our farming industry with over two-thirds of UK food and drinks exports going to the EU.”

She warned: “Warm words about wanting to increase British food exports will be meaningless if farmers are face with a 50 per cent tariff on beef and a 30 per cent tariff on lamb to sell into their biggest export market.”

Meurig Raymond, president of the National Farmers’ Union, shared similar sentiments.

He said: “Whilst we welcome the Secretary of State’s commitment to reduce red tape after leaving the EU, there are more immediate concerns that need addressing and it is disappointing that there is no further clarity on access to the single market, how farms will continue to have access to a reliable workforce and what the ambitions are for a future domestic agricultural policy.

“To ensure that British food and farming continues to have a viable future outside the EU, farmers need to know what future trading arrangements will look like with the EU and beyond. They need to know where they will be able to recruit their workforce from and what a domestic agricultural policy will look like post-Brexit. All of these vital issues will need clarifying as soon as possible.”

Mrs Leadsom listed a number of European regulations that the Government will be free to simplify outside of the EU, including the contentious ‘three crop rule’ which stipulates how many different crops farms must plant each year and the removal of complicated definitions used to identify features in farmers’ fields to work out subsidy payments.

The amount of paperwork flood-hit farmers need to fill in to support claims for repairs or recovery of land could also be cut, so too the number of government farm inspections.

Rishi Sunak, Conservative MP for Richmond, said: “Mrs Leadsom is absolutely right. Britain leaving the EU is a golden opportunity for us to have the regulatory framework that works for British farmers rather than the farmers of 27 other nations.

“Many regulations we will want to retain but there are many that we will want to modify or scrap.”

Action needs to follow the Minister’s words, said the NFU’s regional director Adam Bedford.

“The impact of too much red tape, and too much duplication, on farming businesses has long been a bone of contention,” he said. “It is a major hurdle to competitiveness and as a result, there have been many reviews looking at how to reduce the regulatory burden.

“In 2015 the Cabinet Office conducted the most recent review and responding to it the NFU identified a number of key areas where regulation could be streamlined. As we work to develop our first domestic agriculture policy, we have a real chance to tackle this once and for all. I know our members across the North East will welcome Andrea Leadsom’s comments and will hope to see some meaningful progress, as many recommendations from previous reviews have yet to be implemented fully.”

The Minister’s speech came as a report by the parliamentary Environmental Audit Committee called for a new Environmental Protection Act before Brexit to set out how it will provide equivalent or better protection for nature and the countryside once the UK has left the EU.

It warned protections for wildlife and habitats could be adversely affected by Brexit.

Baroness Parminter said: “The government has no mandate to trash laws that protect the celebrated scenery of Yorkshire and allow UK farmers to sell freely into European markets.

“Leave campaigners said Brexit would not impact on our environment or the prosperity of farming communities. We must hold them to account and ensure the Great Repeal Bill is not a great bonfire of environmental protections.”

WAR CHEST FOR RURAL GROWTH

A new round of European funds will soon be made available to help launch new rural and farming businesses, support companies to grow, develop new products and access new export markets.

Mrs Leadsom said £120m will be used to support farmers, grow businesses and generate thousands of rural jobs in the next round of the Rural Development Programme for England (RDPE) Growth Programme.

The Minister said: “A quarter of England’s businesses are based in the countryside and this funding will give rural start-ups, family-run businesses and farmers looking to diversify the boost they need.”