The Farmers’ Union of Wales played its part in supporting constituencies across Wales by organising, in partnership with NFU and YFC on occasions, a total of 12 hustings to allow the people of Wales to question their respective MPs. Specifically, it provided an opportunity for FUW members to question the candidates on their plans for agriculture both nationally and locally.
The Conserative Party won 365 seats across the UK, 47 more than in 2017, while Labour won 203 seats, the Scotish National Party (SNP) 48 seats and the Liberal Democrats just 11 seats. Plaid Cymru retained their four seats in Wales.
So where do we stand now? Briefly, it seems now that as the Conservatives have a majority Government, the revised Withdrawal Agreement is likely to be passed by Parliament and we will formally leave the EU on the 31st January 2020 and enter a transition period until the end of 2020 during which all negotiations and implementation of policies such as border controls must be completed.
As well as continuing to argue for a close trading arrangement with the EU, the FUW will also be fighting any moves which introduce unfair competition from farmers in other countries, especially where those countries have health, hygiene, welfare and environmental standards which would be illegal here in the UK. Such priorities relating directly to Brexit are made clear in the FUW’s 2019 Manifesto, which also highlights key priorities such as long term funding for agriculture, how climate change must be tackled without compromising food production and the need to ensure TB is recognised as a threat to international trade.
The FUW is committed to lobbying and working with all those in Westminster to ensure that Welsh agriculture and Wales’ family farms receive the attention and respect that they warrant.