As we recently celebrated the 75th anniversary of VE day under Covid-19 lockdown, I was reminded of what earlier generations of farmers used to say: “What British farmers need is a good war.” There is no such thing, of course, but what they meant was that an international crisis focused the British government’s attention on improving national food self-sufficiency.
So, with the fight against Covid-19 now being described as a ‘war’, will one of the few benefits of this terrible pandemic be that, post-Brexit, the Government will have second thoughts about throwing our industry overboard as it seeks trade deals with the US and other potential trading partners?
One would need to have farmed before 1940 to remember when British agriculture last had to make its own way in the world without government subsidy. Between the two world wars of the 20th century, home-grown food production was allowed to decline as British governments did what they had always done in peace time: ruined many farmers by opting for a cheap food, free-trade policy.
The period since 1945 has been unique in that we have continued to enjoy taxpayer support in relatively peaceful times. Successive British governments first delivered these policies, which were continued by the EU when we joined in 1973.
With Brexit now looming, the government mood music regarding farming has been distinctly hostile. DEFRA has declared it will scrap all EU subsidies and many of its food import tariffs.
So will Covid-19 change anything? The government is currently in the process of devising a National Food Strategy and its author, Henry Dimbleby, has recently said that it will have a renewed focus on food security because of the issues caused by the pandemic. His report, however, is not due to be published until a few days before Brexit. That timetable might slip because Dimbleby’s team has been redeployed to deal with Covid-19.
On other fronts, the Government has made friendly noises about allowing migrant farm workers to travel to the UK after Brexit and a new Environmental Land Management Scheme is still promised in a few years time, albeit with vague details.
All this feels well short of the generous programmes that we have been used to ever since VE day. Only time will show if Covid-19 has changed British politicians’ views about whether or not they really now see agriculture as an important strategic industry.
In the meantime, I intend to assume the worst and try to remember the grim tales of financial hardship told to me by my grandfather. Tales about what it took to survive as a British farmer without subsidies and tariffs – before 1939 changed everything.
