Brexit 'farming fund' will be 'income support for super rich', Labour MP says

Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West since 1987, said a special fund for farmers would be "income support for the super rich"
Paul Flynn, Labour MP for Newport West since 1987, said a special fund for farmers would be "income support for the super rich"

A Labour MP has said that a "farming fund" suggested by a cross-party of MPs to help soften the impact of Brexit will be "income support for super rich".

Newport West MP Paul Flynn told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement programme that a special fund should not be set up to help farmers post-Brexit.

The comment follows a suggestion by the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) Committee that the government should consider creating a fund to support the UK’s agricultural sector as it adapts to the post-Brexit environment.

Neil Parish, Chair of EFRA, said it is "vital" that the government articulates its vision for protecting British food and farming.

But Mr Flynn said: "The special fund is rather like asking for your cake, eating it, and then demanding a second cake."

The Labour MP said in England, "the main bulk of the support is given in subsidy to a millionaire or billionaire".

"The only industry that has been guaranteed to have funding for the foreseeable future is farming," he said.

"At the moment we are wasting millions in giving grants to farmers who are rich. This is income support for the super rich in may cases."

EFRA, a cross-party group of MPs appointed to scrutinise Defra, has also called for a specific impact analysis for each agricultural sector, plans for physical and IT infrastructure to be drawn up and for new trading partnerships to be explored.