As the saying goes: “nothing ventured, nothing gained” writes President Andrew McCornick having extended an invite to the two candidates vying to be the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom to meet with NFUS.
Messrs Hunt and Johnson will visit Scotland later this week as they take part in a debate in front of Scottish Conservative Party members.
These head-to-head debates, which have been taking place across the UK over the past week, are officially known as ‘hustings’ and allow both candidates an important opportunity to woo the votes of the Conservative Party membership.
The Scottish hustings meeting, taking place this Friday (5 July), comes at an important time as it is just before voting slips are issued to party members. Votes will be gathered and counted over two weeks before the winning candidate is announced in the week commencing 22 July.
Ahead of their visit to Scotland, I have written to both candidates inviting a discussion on the pressing priorities of NFU Scotland and the Scottish agricultural industry – so I can set out in the clearest terms what it is our industry expects from our next Prime Minister.
As President of this organisation, representing over 8,500 agricultural businesses the length and breadth of Scotland, I am constantly speaking with members.
What they tell me is that they need an end to political uncertainty due to Brexit. Political uncertainty breeds business uncertainty – proven no less by the results of NFU Scotland’s biggest membership survey in recent memory, released at the recent Highland Show. It found that almost three-quarters of our membership have not been able to undertake business planning, and 45% have already experienced Brexit impacts due to the increased cost of inputs, delaying investment and expansion, and difficulty in recruiting and retaining staff.
Since 24 June 2016, the day after the historic EU referendum, it has been the resounding priority of this organisation – shared by fellow UK farming unions – to secure a Brexit outcome that allows agriculture to flourish. That priority remains unchanged to this day.
For NFU Scotland, that means a free and frictionless trading relationship with the EU after exit, and for the extremely high standards to which Scottish farmers and crofters produce their products to be upheld in any future free trade negotiation.
It also means the development of a fully funded agricultural policy that is properly targeted to the vastly different profiles of UK farming, and encourages agricultural businesses to enhance their productivity, environmental delivery, and profitability.
Within this new policy, NFU Scotland sees real opportunities for much better regulation within the sector that still delivers the outcomes society and governments want, but in a much simplified and efficient fashion.
Finally, the agri-food sector strongly relies on a non-UK workforce that undertakes essential manually skilled seasonal and permanent roles through the whole food chain. It is vital that the post-Brexit immigration system ensures the real needs of the agri-food labour market are met.
If these priorities can be secured, then NFU Scotland can envisage a bright future for Scottish agriculture outside of the EU. What is clear, however, is that this bright future cannot be delivered in the context of a ‘no deal’ Brexit.
Agriculture is an industry that would be uniquely exposed to the worst impacts of a ‘no deal’, with the imposition of asymmetric export and import tariffs threatening to undercut all our world-leading sectors. Our recent survey results also told us that two-thirds of members believe a ‘no deal’ would have a negative impact on their businesses, casting significant doubt on future business longevity.
It is clear that ‘no deal’ is simply not an option if we are to preserve and enhance our agricultural sector, which is the cornerstone of Scotland’s booming food and drinks industry.
Whilst Mr Hunt’s leadership campaign made some assurances earlier this week that government support would be required for agriculture if the sector does shift to a WTO tariff situation, I for one am dismayed that, three years on from the referendum, the abyss of a ‘no deal’ exit remains a possible – nay ever more likely – outcome.
But it is a tribute to the resilience of our agricultural sector that, despite this uncertainty, a significant majority of our members continue to see their future in farming and crofting. Farmers and crofters are naturally optimistic and NFU Scotland is committed to making Scottish agriculture productive and profitable.
I call upon both Prime Ministerial candidates to commit to work with our industry to recover confidence levels and work towards a brighter and more certain long-term future. And I hope to get the chance to deliver that message face-to-face.
NFU Scotland has now received letters in response from both Conservative Leadership candidates.
Click here to read the response from the Rt Hon Jeremy Hunt MP.
Click here to read the response from the Rt Hon Boris Johnson MP.