Open Britain and Save British Farming on Brexit’s Damage to British Agriculture

I realise I’m far too late putting this up, but I thought I should nevertheless because of its description of the immense damage Brexit has done and is doing to British farming.

‘A message from
Liz Webster, Chair of Save British Farming,
to Open Britain supporters.

Dear David, 

Save British Farming is excited to be heading to Labour Party Conference in Liverpool this weekend to discuss Brexit and food security with Labour members at a fringe event hosted by the Independent Commission on UK EU Relations and sponsored by Open Britain.

A major justification for Brexit was regaining national sovereignty. But ironically, Brexit has reduced Britain’s control over its food supply and borders. Brexit opened the UK’s borders to unchecked food imports flooding in from the EU, while new Brexit bureaucracy and red tape make it harder for British companies to export. Rather than increasing sovereignty, Brexit has constrained the UK’s authority over its own food system and ability to regulate what enters the country. The results contradict promises of regaining authority by leaving the EU.

One has to ask how a country can claim to have won back sovereignty if this nation then loses the ability to control its borders and its food supply.

The Brexit debate has focused disproportionately on blaming farmers for supporting Brexit rather than examining the implications of Brexit for the UK’s food supply, economic inflation, environment, animal welfare and public health. This is a mistake because sufficient food is essential for social stability. As many have pointed out over the years, “No country is more than three missed meals away from a revolution.”

Brexit risks significantly disrupting food availability and affordability in the UK, and that could lead to public unrest. The discussion should, therefore, shift to constructive debate about Brexit’s impact on agriculture, food security and related issues. Protecting these is vital, regardless of how farmers voted on Brexit more than seven years ago.

Since the onset of COVID-19, empty supermarket shelves have become commonplace in the UK. However, food supplies across Europe have largely rebounded from pandemic disruptions. The one exception is British goods, which are less available in EU markets post-Brexit. New non-tariff barriers erected after Brexit now obstruct British food exports to the continent. While European grocers have overcome initial pandemic shortages, Brexit-related trade friction continues to hamper UK food producers’ access to our closest neighbours. This contrasts with the full recovery seen elsewhere in Europe. Ongoing Brexit barriers explain why British grocery selection still lags while EU food stability has resumed.

Brexit’s negative impacts on British farming and food supply are materialising faster than expected. The COVID-19 pandemic and the Ukraine war have magnified economic shocks, speeding up the damage. Alarmingly, the Conservative government removed food production as a priority area for the public good. They scrapped powers allowing intervention in farming to ensure food security. Control over food policy has now shifted toward profit-focused supermarkets, even though food originates on farms.

If post-Brexit declines in domestic food production continue, the UK will have to import more food to feed itself. The World Wars showed the dangers for an island nation relying heavily on imported food. Brexit risks again leaving Britain vulnerable to supply disruptions during crises. Being self-sufficient in food provides stability. The government must restore farming and fisheries as top priorities. When it comes to threats to food security, they ignore the lessons of history at our peril.

The Conservatives have long believed the markets should be king, despite historic events of the British Empire in Ireland and India proving time and time again that this leads to untold suffering.

The Labour Party has never been seen as the party of the countryside and farmers – far from it – and the Tories have tended to dominate rural areas. But all of this has now changed as farmers and rural voters have begun to realise that the Tories aren’t on their side. Any that were slow to see this surely must’ve realised this week when the President of the NFU, Minette Batters, accused Jacob Rees-Mogg of seeking to destroy British agriculture after he blurted out that he backed imports of hormone-fed Australian beef.

The Labour Party is very likely to win the next election and will inherit the mess that the Tories have created. At the heart of that mess is the security of our food supply. No government can survive repeated and prolonged food shortages, and it’s vital that the incoming Government works with the British farming industry now to ensure Britain has adequate, affordable and safe food supplies.

That is the key message I will make at our Conference event. If you are going to be there, please come along and listen to what is expected to be a lively panel discussion. We’ll be in the Environment Hub Marquee on Sunday 8th October from 10.00 am. Further details can be found here.

All the very best,

Liz Webster
Chair, Save British Farming’

1914 Pathe Newsreel of People Making Artificial Limbs

A few days ago I put up a video from British Pathe on YouTube of a carpenter showing what he was able to do with an artificial arm. This video is very much in the same vein. It’s of workers in a factory manufacturing prosthetic limbs, followed by footage of a man in an overall walking about. Presumably he had just had an artificial leg fitted, and was trying it on. I’ve an interest in robotics and artificial limbs, and so find footage like this fascinated. I also admire the craftmanship of the people here shown carving and shaping the limbs. I’m fairly certain that the footage was topical at the time- it’s from 1914 – so that would have been about the time wounded and maimed squaddies started coming back from the First World War.