The option of leaving the EU while staying within the single market and the customs union should not be forgotten, and is the best way to respect the referendum outcome while preventing damage to our economy and rural communities, the Farmers' Union of Wales (FUW) has told a conference on the future of rural Wales.
Addressing the Welsh Local Government Association's Sustainable Rural Communities Post 2020 event, FUW President Glyn Roberts said: "We are told there is a deal on the table – Theresa May’s Brexit deal – and that we have a choice between this, a new deal if one is reached, and a no-deal Brexit.
"But there is another deal on the table which was advocated by the FUW shortly after the referendum and has been referred to repeatedly by EU politicians as their preferred option:
"That is the option to honour the referendum - by leaving the EU - but to stay in the Single Market and the Customs Union in order to prevent immense damage to our economy and in particular to our rural communities."
Speaking after the event, Mr Roberts said that while some interpreted the referendum as a mandate to leave the customs union and single market, he believed that such an interpretation was spurious.