Peer brands farm subsidies ‘a disgrace’
Outspoken peer Digby Jones has described EU subsidies for agriculture as “a disgrace” and called for taxpayer money to be redirected to universities instead.
Speaking at the annual conference of English Farming and Food Partnerships in London, Lord Jones said he believed farmer subsidies did not help the UK compete globally and the money could be better spent by educating the next generation.
“This won’t be a popular thing to say,” he said, “but the EU puts more money into agriculture than it does universities and there is something very wrong in that.
“We are not going to take the likes of China on and win if we subsidise history. We have to use our taxes to subsidise tomorrow”.
Lord Jones, former director general of the Confederation of British Industry and trade minister under the Labour Government, has a long reputation for speaking bluntly in Parliament and in the media.
He told delegates that the emergence of China and India as major economies provided enormous opportunities for UK producers.
He also called for EU countries to collaborate more effectively, playing to each others strengths in order to capitalise on Asian markets.