Ag Bill delay increasing risk of change to BPS phase-out timeline, says NFU

He said: “The long delay in the Agriculture Bill – it has been over half a year since it last reared its head in Parliament – is adding to the enormous uncertainty farmers are feeling around Brexit.

“It would not be reasonable to ask farmers to prepare for wholesale changes to agricultural policy while the legislation underpinning that change has not been passed and the relationship with our largest agricultural trading partner, the EU, remains totally unclear.

“If this delay persists much longer, then Government will need to reassess its plans for the agricultural transition to make sure it is not rushed in against a backdrop of ongoing legal and political uncertainty.”

Pressing

The NFU’s warning came as a parliamentary hill farming group set up by former Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron began pressing Defra Secretary Michael Gove to set out a timetable for the Agriculture Bill’s return to the House of Commons.

In his latest article for Farmers Guardian’s Brexit hub, Mr Farron said the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Hill Farming would be pushing for a timescale to give farmers the security they need to plan ahead.

He joins Labour’s Shadow Defra Secretary Sue Hayman in calling for the Bill to be brought back to Parliament for further scrutiny.