NFU won’t campaign, but opposes Brexit
The UK’s National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has said that after evaluating of the agricultural merits of the case, it is in favor of staying in the European Union (EU).
However, the NFU said that it will not be actively campaigning in the referendum, it will not be joining with any campaign groups and it will not, in any circumstances, advise its members how to vote.
The NFU Council said that, “On the balance of existing evidence available to us at present, the interests of farmers are best served by our continuing membership of the European Union.”
The NFU has set up a series of 28 ‘roadshows’ around the country where farmers will be able to debate the key issues of the impact on farming of leaving the EU.
Factors considered by the NFU
- Implications for agricultural trade with the EU and the rest of the world
- The balance of risks of a national farm policy versus the CAP
- Uncertainty following a vote to leave
- Potential impacts for the wider food chain
- The consequence for farming regulation, in or out
- The consequences for agricultural labor availability
- The consequence for agricultural product approvals
- The consequences for science and R&D relating to agriculture
