Can the ‘leave’ campaign convince British farmers that they’d be better off out?

As Nigel Farndale wrote in this magazine in February, leaving the EU would have a dramatic effect on British farmers and the agricultural industry. When it comes to British agriculture, the EU very much sets the rules – with regards to both regulations and funding – so a vote for Brexit would mean change, in a big way.  

But what makes the EU debate even more interesting when it comes to farming is that the farming minister – George Eustice – has placed himself firmly in the ‘out’ camp. Eustice, after all, was once a Ukip candidate in the European Parliament Elections, and was Campaign Director for the No to the Euro campaign – so perhaps it was unsurprising that he would join the campaign to leave the EU as well. He announced his decision in February (stating that it was because the PM had been unable ‘to deliver the sort of fundamental reform I wanted to see’), but it does put him at loggerheads with other agricultural ministers; Liz Truss is vocally ‘in’, as are the Scottish rural affairs secretary and Northern Ireland farm minister.

Now Eustice has announced what his ‘plan B’ – should we vote to leave – would look like, and it does sound promising on paper.