"BREXIT: "Wisdom and diplomacy required for successful EU exit"

The Tenant Farmers Association has written to the Prime Minister and The First Minister in Wales to offer its assistance in working to achieve a successful exit from the European Union in light of the win for the leave camp in the EU referendum.

TFA Chief Executive George Dunn said “Having put to bed the arguments about whether we want to remain in or leave the European Union, we now need high levels of both wisdom and diplomacy to negotiate our way through the uncharted waters of abandoning our current arrangements with the EU and building a new framework for policy development in those areas of previous EU competency. Unfortunately, both of these attributes of wisdom and diplomacy have been less than obvious in the referendum debate from both sides and so we have a lot of learning to do.”

“Of course, agricultural policy will be the main focus of activity for the TFA and having already set out a potential draft policy for the situation within which we now find ourselves, we will be using that as a basis for beginning our discussions with the English and Welsh Governments to gain early traction to ensure that the farming community is not forgotten as we build new, domestic policies from the bottom up,” said Mr Dunn.

“The debate leading up to yesterday’s referendum has been passionate but divisive and we now need to work on building a new consensus about how we build a post-EU Britain. As with the rest of the nation, the farming community has had split views on whether it was right to remain a member or leave the European Union but we must all now deal with the reality of the situation within which we find ourselves and press on to ensure a smooth exit and building a secure future for the UK outside of the EU,” said Mr Dunn.

“There is much work to be done on the big issues facing the farming industry including living with volatility in world markets, adapting to climate change, applying new technology, dealing with animal diseases, the use and development of pesticides and other farm chemicals and securing food and environmental security. We must now find our own solutions to these important issues which will require us quickly to put aside our divisions over the referendum question and press on towards working together to address these important areas of work,” said Mr Dunn.

For more information:
www.tfa.org.uk