From The Editor
Pound Drops as UK Votes to Leave EU
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FOLLOWING AN HISTORIC referendum on 23 June, the UK has voted to leave the European Union after 43 years.
Leave won by 52 % to 48 % with England and Wales voting strongly for Brexit, while London, Scotland and Northern Ireland backed staying in the EU.
Prime Minister David Cameron has said he will step down saying“ we should aim to have a new prime minister in place by the
start of the Conservative party conference in October”.
UKIP leader Nigel Farage hailed the vote result as the UK’ s“ independence day” but the Remain camp called it a“ catastrophe”.
The pound fell to its lowest level against the dollar since 1985 as the markets reacted to the results.
The referendum turnout was 71.8 %- with more than 30 million people voting- the highest turnout at a UK election since 1992.
Some in the Leave camp acknowledged there would be a short-term“ blip” in the markets but insist things will quickly return to normal.
There are already moves among the 450 or so MPs who want to stay in the EU, across the Labour, Conservative, SNP, Plaid Cymru and Green parties, to keep the UK in the single market in any exit negotiations. This would mean Britain would have to keep its borders open to EU workers and continue paying into EU coffers.
Germany’ s foreign minister Frank Walter Steinmeier described the referendum result as as“ a sad day for Europe and Great Britain”.
Britain will not immediately cease to be a member of the 28-nation block- that could take a minimum of two years, possibly 2020- the date of the next scheduled general election. The prime minister will have to decide when to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty, which would give the UK two years to negotiate its withdrawal.
The government will also have to negotiate its future trading relationship with the EU and fix trade deals with non-EU countries.
In Whitehall and Westminster, there will now begin the massive task of unhitching the UK from more than 40 years of EU law, deciding which directives and regulations to keep, amend or ditch.
BREXIT: EUROPE’ S MARKETS WILL REMAIN IMPORTANT TO BRITAIN’ S FARMERS- NFU
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FOLLOWING THE referendum results, in a statement NFU President Meurig Raymond said:“ The vote to leave the European Union will inevitably lead to a period of uncertainty in a number of areas that are of vital importance to Britain’ s farmers.
“ The NFU will engage fully and constructively with the British government to construct new arrangements. This needs to happen as soon as possible.
“ Our members will rightly want to know the impact on their businesses as a matter of urgency. We understand that the negotiations will take some time to deliver but it is vital that there is early commitment to
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ensure British farming is not disadvantaged. It is vital that British farming is profitable and remains competitive, it is the bedrock of the food industry – Britain’ s largest manufacturing sector.
“ The NFU has called an extraordinary meeting of NFU Council, its governing body, for Friday July 1 2016.”
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THE NFU’ S PRINCIPLES WILL BE:
To achieve the best possible access Europe’ s markets, which will remain extremely important to Britain’ s farmers.
To get access to markets in the rest of the world, while ensuring we are protected from imports which are produced to lower standards.
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To ensure our farmers and growers can get the necessary supplies of labour, both seasonal and full-time.
‘ a period of uncertainty’
To build a British agricultural policy which is as simple as possible, adapted to our needs and guarantees parity of treatment with European farmers, who will still be our principal competitors. There must be a common framework of a British policy, while allowing a necessary degree of flexibility to devolved governments.
Regulations and product approvals must be proportionate and based on risk and science.
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4 Jun / Jul 2016 www. farmers-mart. co. uk