News • Good Food Trade Campaign
Food and farming to get just £35m from the £1bn no-deal Brexit fund
Defra has been allocated just £35m of the £1.1bn set aside by the Treasury for no-deal Brexit planning. The majority of the fund is expected to be used for IT support and communications purposes.
Farmers Weekly report that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) is being allocated just £35m from the £1.1bn set aside by the Treasury for no-deal Brexit planning.
National Farmers' Union Brexit director Nick von Westenholz told Farmers Weekly that the funding is a “drop in the ocean” compared to what will be needed to support agriculture in the event of a no-deal Brexit.
“A back of the envelope calculation shows that, just for the sheep sector which exports about £400m of product a year to the EU, the tariff hit from a no-deal Brexit would amount to over £180m. For beef the tariff cost is higher still – and that is before you consider the impact of border delays and extra paperwork.”
Mr von Westenholz said it was “imperative” that Defra ramped up its preparations, prepared suitable contingency measures and communicated clearly what farming could expect in a no-deal scenario.
Published Sunday 11 August 2019
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