'Fails to deliver enough public benefit': Greens campaign to end single payment scheme

The Greens are calling for a farming support policy which improves soil fertility, protects and encourages biodiversity
The Greens are calling for a farming support policy which improves soil fertility, protects and encourages biodiversity

A campaign for reform is being launched by campaign group Greenpeace who have called for an end to the single payment scheme.

The group argue it disproportionately benefits large landowners and fails to deliver enough public benefit.

This comes as news that farm subsidy payments funded by the UK taxpayer are being paid to millionaire landowners, with £400,000 going to a billionaire Saudi prince.

Greens have in the past campaigned for reforms to the Common Agriculture Policy calling for a farming support policy which betters the environment.

They have also called for a ceiling for farm payments of €100,000 a year, allowing more money to go towards supporting a shift to smaller scale sustainable farming and creating long-term employment in rural economies.

Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West: "I have long argued to cap the CAP"
Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West: "I have long argued to cap the CAP"

However, Molly Scott Cato, Green MEP for the South West, also believes the government have stood in the way of implementing green measures under CAP.

She said: "We need to ensure that farm payments are not directed towards wealthy landowners, a choice that was made by the UK government rather than the EU during the CAP era.

"The government had an opportunity to cap payments over a certain threshold and allow payments to smaller farmers with under 5 hectares.

"They chose not to. Likewise, with part of farmers' payments under CAP already dependent on implementing greening measures, DEFRA chose a restrictive approach, failing to give farmers many options in implementing such measures.

"I have long argued to cap the CAP and for CAP payments to be based on the achievement of environmental benefits but it is often conservative governments, supported by their land-owning baron chums, who have blocked reforms."

'Government has failed to outline their vision'

Miss Cato and her Green colleagues Jean Lambert MEP and Keith Taylor MEP recently made a written submission to the Commons inquiry on The Future of the Natural Environment, expressing their concerns about the future of farming support following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU

Miss Cato said: "The government has failed to outline its vision for British farming following the vote to withdraw from the EU, but shows worrying signs it will try and take us down a route to intensify our farming industry.

"There is also the risk of losing the environmental protections pioneered in the EU, such as the Birds and Habitats directive.

"We must also acknowledge the huge and important part farming can play in averting climate chaos by capturing carbon.

"So, this is a critical time for small scale farmers, environmental campaigners and progressive politicians to seize the moment and help shape a healthy, economically sustainable and environmentally-friendly agriculture sector for the future."