²ÝÁñÉçÇø

Leaving the Brexit transition period without an EU trade deal would be ‘a cakewalk’ for the food industry in comparison to the pandemic, National Food Strategy (NFS) chief Henry Dimbleby has said.

The Covid-19 pandemic has held the attention of the world since January, but as the UK stumbles towards the end of the Brexit transition period, there is an urgent need to refocus.

A top Welsh Government (WG) official has said he expects ‘business casualties’ from the twin pressures of Brexit and the coronavirus pandemic.

International Trade Secretary Liz Truss will formally launch the Trade and Agriculture Commission at an event in Whitehall tomorrow (Tuesday July 28).

Rows between the SNP and Tories over where power lies post-Brexit will not benefit Scottish farmers or the economy, which relies on intra-UK trade, says North East Liberal Democrat MSP Mike Rumbles.

Without some serious changes, the Trade and Agriculture Commission could end up becoming little more than a fig leaf for the Government’s failure to protect production standards in law, says Labour Shadow Farming Minister Daniel Zeichner.

Strange claims about trade deals with other countries increasing UK farmers’ use of insecticides must be taken with a pinch of salt, says Adam Speed, head of communications at the Crop Protection Association (CPA).

With the chance of reaching a good trade deal with the EU slipping away, we may soon need to start knitting parachutes for a cliff edge exit in December, says Matt Legge, a sheep, beef and pig farmer from the Isle of Wight.

UK agricultural exports are facing the prospect of crippling EU tariffs from the end of this year, with the Government said to be ‘close to abandoning hope’ of reaching a trade deal with the bloc.

Welsh First Minister Mark Drakeford has said the UK Government’s internal market proposals are a ‘significant step backwards’ for devolution.