Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

UK aiming for CAP withdrawal on Brexit day

Lord Duncan said remaining in the CAP for the duration of the transition period would be a “worst case scenario”
Lord Duncan said remaining in the CAP for the duration of the transition period would be a “worst case scenario”

Westminster has singled out farming and fishing for an accelerated exit from Europe at the end of March 2019.

The political bombshell was dropped on farming leaders by Scotland Office Under Secretary of State Lord Ian Duncan during an NFU Scotland meeting at Birnam in Perthshire.

Lord Duncan told the audience of farmers that Defra Secretary Michael Gove’s “clear negotiating position” was to secure as early an exit as possible from the Common Agricultural Policy and the Common Fisheries Policy. He said  negotiators would do all they could to achieve that outcome.

“That’s our starting negotiating position, to be determined with the EU,” he said.

“We would prefer to see the freedom to come to you to begin to determine farm policy.”

The news came as a shock to farmers’ union leader Andrew McCornick who said he was astounded that Westminster would announce such a major policy shift without prior consultation.

“It has taken me completely by surprise,” he said.

“The problem is they don’t understand we’re making long-term decisions in agriculture during all the uncertainty over the Brexit negotiations.  We’re still trying to farm through all of it.

“Is the UK going to be giving the same money to the EU during the transition period and at the same time paying money for an agriculture policy?  I don’t understand how it’s going to work.  “And how could we be in a transition agriculture-wise and still be trading with Europe if we haven’t the same support systems? I’ve no answer to that, I’ll be looking for clarity.”

Scotland’s Brexit Minister, Mike Russell was equally perplexed by the announcement and said it only added to the chaos and confusion of the UK Government’s position on Brexit.

“It’s very different from what we’ve been hearing which is that it’s inconceivable that agriculture and fishing would be separate from the rest of the transition arrangements,” he said later.

“You can’t be both in and out and that’s been the clear message from the EU.  We have to seek clarification.”

Questioned later, Lord Duncan stood by his announcement and insisted that remaining in the CAP for the duration of the transition period would be a “worst case scenario”.

He insisted that farm support was guaranteed by the UK Government until 2022, whatever happened.

“You will get your money,” he said.

Lord Duncan also pointed out that CAP funding was likely to  be reduced after 2021, so for  one year UK farmers would almost certainly benefit from being out of Europe.

nnicolson@thecourier.co.uk