Leading Brexiteer shuts down scaremongering farming claims, says Brexit will HELP sector
LEAVE Means Leave co-chairman John Longworth flattened allegations Brexit would have a negative effect on the British farming industry because of the loss of seasonal workers.
The staunch Brexiteer firmly dismissed as “scaremongering” claims the UK farming industry will be negatively affected by Brexit.
He said: “There’s a lot of scaremongering in this. We always had seasonal labour but, of course, that seasonal labour used to go home at the end of the season. There’s no reason why that shouldn’t continue.
“It will also encourage productivity improvement in farming as machinery is introduced rather than pickers.”
Mr Longworth was adamant Brexit will “boost” the farming economy because leaving the EU will put an end to the common external tariffs Brussels “forces” on the UK.
Discussing reports claiming farmers will struggle because of Brexit, he said: “Fruit prices will fall. That will be better off for hard working families in the UK.
“It will provide them with more disposable income and it will boost the economy. Now, what’s wrong with that?”
He stated: “The fact of the matter is: we will have cheaper food when we leave the EU because we will remove external tariffs.
“We can support British farmers through stewardship of the land grants, but we will be operating at world prices which is cheaper than the protectionist European zone.
“At the same time, we’ll be able to help developing countries in places like Africa and South America who are, at the moment, downtrodden by the European Union because they’re not allowed to produce product and export it to the EU because of the extremely high tariffs the EU applies to those products.”
Only recently the UK Government announced it has secured a £200million export deal with China.
Food Minister Geroge Eustice said: “China is a hugely important market for our world-class food industry and by opening up access even further, more UK businesses can take advantage of the growing appetite for our food and drink.”
The newly-signed agreement with the East Asian country follows an additional £34million deal that will see British producers sell their beef to the Philippines.
August 16th, 2017: Express