The Brexit campaigners say it’s simple: get out of Europe and the British can take charge of their own agriculture. We pay more in subsidies to the EU than we get out; take that money back and distribute it directly to our own farmers. We can then implement our own rules and environment policy, thereby producing more of our own food.
It sounds so logical, so credible, and yet I’d be very wary of any politician who tries to simplify this area of the In-Out debate, especially those who constantly complain about being “run by Brussels”. The truth is that the British Government is in control of UK agriculture. The rule book itself is created in Brussels, but it is then interpreted in Whitehall.
The onerous EU regulations so bemoaned by farmers and food producers are often embellished by our own Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. Our Government can, however, apply to Brussels to opt out of new regulations.
05 May 2016, The Tablet
Let’s eat in
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