‘Completely out of touch’: NFU president hits out at reports senior government official said UK doesn’t need farming industry
Surely advisers should be allowed to think the unthinkable? I can however understand why this sort of thinking has drawn the response from the farming lobby it has!!! This story tells us:
The president of the National Farmers’ Union has hit out at “completely out of touch” suggestions from a senior government adviser that the UK does not need its own agricultural sector.
There were reports that Treasury official Dr Tim Leunig claimed the food sector was not “critically important” to the country’s economy – and that agriculture and fisheries “certainly isn’t”.
In leaked emails published in The Mail on Sunday, the economic adviser to the chancellor Rishi Sunak is reported to have said ministers could follow the example of Singapore, which is “rich without having its own agricultural sector”.
The agriculture and fishing sectors combined represent less than 1 per cent of the UK’s economy. But rural and coastal communities voted out in large numbers during the 2016 referendum after the Vote Leave campaign argued that farmers and fishermen would be better off once free of EU rules.
The government distanced itself from the official’s comments, adding: “We have made it clear the comments are not in line with government policy.”