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2021-10-11

Since we left the EU we also left the CAP. Since then the government and its civil servants have been occupied in devising what might unkindly be thought of as a composite policy of subsidy laced with a good measure of "green" objectives that I have never properly understood.

Being of what some might consider advancing years I still remember the pre-CAP days before we joined the "Common Market". We had cheap imported meat from our erstwhile colonies (primarily New Zealand, Australia) and subsidies to British farmers so that they could cover the gap between their expenses of production and market meat prices. It seemed to me (being not at all farming oriented) that it worked well enough. All that changed when we joined the one-size-fits-all CAP and meat prices in the shops rocketed whilst New Zealand and Australia scrambled to find new markets for their produce.

So I was interested to see that Briefings for Britain recently featured an article by a British farmer of long standing, outlining his experiences in the context of government subsidies controls and inspections over the years. 

See what you think.