Brexit ‘like repeal of Corn Laws’ – AHDB chairman Kendall

The UK must not become a dumping ground for world commodity surpluses, but that is what a hard Brexit will deliver, AHDB chairman Peter Kendall has warned.

“We are in the most bizarre political times,” he told growers and traders at United Oilseeds’ annual harvest review and outlook.

See also: Soil ‘at heart’ of post-Brexit farm support, says Eustice

“The hard Brexiteers are arguing for anything to come in to the UK with no tariffs. They see things too simplistically and don’t see the challenges.

“The US is a protectionist bloc and the EU is a protectionist bloc – so what happens when we have free access and the world has an excess of commodity production?

“Those who are saying free trade can boost our economy and drop food bills by £20 a week are arguing for a similar move to the repeal of the Corn Laws, which opened our market and threw British agriculture over the side like an unwanted cargo,” he told growers.

The repeal of the Corn Laws moved the UK from importing 20% of its grain requirements in the 1840s to 80% by the First World War.

New Zealand experience

Asked by a grower about the frequent use of New Zealand as an example of a successful, but unsubsidised agriculture, Mr Kendall said: “If we could get what they’ve got without falling off a cliff, that would be marvellous.

“I think we can manage with less support, but you have to remember that when New Zealand pulled the plug on subsidy in 1984, they had had 11 years of seeking new markets [since the UK’s accession to the EU] and their currency collapsed by 40%, which went a long way to making up for the subsidy loss. We can’t do this all in one go.”