Brexit

Brexit provides huge opportunities for UK farmers, and the pandemic which has exposed the fragility of global supply chains could encourage more shoppers to buy British, says Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski.

With the media focused on the coronavirus crisis, UK-EU trade talks are likely to take place with far less scrutiny than usual, says John Henning, County Armagh beef farmer.

The Agriculture Bill is coming back to Parliament, and that is good news for farmers and the environment, says Tom Lancaster, acting head of land, seas and climate policy at the RSPB.

A good payment scheme will be vital to secure farmers’ post-Brexit future, but other pieces of work on the supply chain, trade and Food Strategy will also be key, says Vicki Hird, farm campaign co-ordinator at Sustain.

Farm groups have hit out at the Government’s readiness to abandon a zero tariff trade deal with the EU.

Industry leaders have been left disappointed by a Government push to pass the Agriculture Bill with little change to its food security measures, despite the coronavirus pandemic.

The coronavirus pandemic has shone a spotlight on food security, giving us an opportunity to reshape post-Brexit policy around production, says Matt Legge, a sheep, beef and pig farmer from the Isle of Wight.

The Government must offer support for dairy farmers to stop them going bust because of the coronavirus pandemic, says Liberal Democrat MP Tim Farron.

Issues such as a lack of agricultural labour have been exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, but Brexit is their root cause, says John Finnie, Green MSP for the Highlands and Islands.

The coronavirus has shown we can pull together as a community to get things done. We must keep the same spirit to push on with Brexit, says David Herbert, a South Welsh smallholder producing eggs and poultry.