I always thought British agriculture was highly efficient when compared to our continental partners. The rebate Mrs Thatcher negotiated was, at least partly because we thought inefficient French farmers benefited too much from the old CAP which encouraged the food mountains and wine lakes in Europe. Or so I believed.
Speaking in the House of Commons on July 7th 2014, Julian Sturdy said (Hansard Col 122 HERE):
"For me, CAP reform should always be about simplification, encouraging a level playing field and inspiring competition and innovation......."
"British shoppers want to buy British produce and back British farmers, especially in the wake of the horsemeat scandal. According to a recent NFU survey, 78% of shoppers believe that supermarkets should sell more British produce".
The UK is currently 68% self-sufficient in terms of food that can be produced here. Sadly, there has been a steady decline in that level over the past 20 years".
He is right about the decline as the chart fig 2.1 on page 10 of this report (HERE) shows. About 40% of our food imports come from the EU, up from under 30% in 2005. In 2014 there was a deficit on agricultural products of £24 billion with our EU partners. One wonders why it is when British shoppers want to buy it and British farmers are so efficient at supplying it, we are increasingly importing food from Europe?
The single market gives us a perfectly level playing field and the CAP is designed to help that by making sure one country does not seek an unfair advantage while food quality and farming standards are raised. Anyone can complain to the European court if they believe the market is being distorted. Inside the customs union we are surrounded by a tariff wall. On wheat there is a £95 per tonne tariff - equal to 53% at 2015 prices (page 42 HERE). Outside the EU, the playing field is anything but level and without government support Mr Sturdy would face competition that he might find a bit tricky! And the WTO does not accept complaints from individuals, only from governments.
And for someone who is keen on simplification it is also odd that The Sturdy family submit two CAP claims (G E Sturdy and J Sturdy - see HERE) for two farms at the same LS22 4NE post code, thereby producing twice the work for themselves and DEFRA?
