Difficult to compare small scale ownership to an international level, no matter which direction you lean in, tbh. We can giggle at hyperbole all we want, but there's a nice line in the middle between the hyperbole of "let everyone into your house to take your stuff" and the hyperbole of "let's be the loony neighbour who hates everyone in the neighbourhood from inside their barbed wire fence" that I'd like to hit. :p
Well, I've waited 17 pages and some 330 posts for someone to mention this but no-one has, I can only presume that people are ignoring this issue or have a " it doesn't affect me I don't care " attitude.............. I'm talking about the " F. Word "..... Farms, Farmers and Farming. This is something I feel strongly about, living here in the rural county of Worcestershire. It is estimated that on average for every £ we put into the EU in Worcestershire we take out almost 20p extra ( ie £1-20 ). Overall, British farmers currently receive approximately 60% of their annual income from EU subsidies. This would GO if we left, leaving many farmers bankrupt and their land to go to waste. Then rural land prices would fall by up to 30%. It has been estimated that only the top 10% of our super-efficient farms would survive. The " Brexit " campaign are saying that the Government would have to take over this payment to each individual farmer so affected for a minimum of the next 5 years just to preserve what is happening now. They also say that it is more than likely that as the Government wouldn't be able to afford the whole amount it would only be available to the highland areas such as Wales and Scotland and that lowland areas such as the Midlands, West Country etc would receive NO subsidies at all. That would KILL off Worcestershire /Herefordshire/Shropshire etc. As I've already said we take out more than we put in in my county. We have no major industry left now in Worcestershire, only tourism. A couple of by-effects for this also are...... When we do pull out and all you people who voted for it find your taxes being increased to pay for farmers wages etc how will you feel? Also, when all these farms/farming practices are lost to our great Nation have you thought about the extra price rises on food as we have to increase our reliance on imported meat/dairy products/cereal etc. And what are the job opportunities for all these out of work farmers and their families and their employees stuck out there in remote areas. As I said earlier on i think it's a case of large town/city folk just ignoring the situation as they see it as not affecting them.
You obviously know more about the effect on farmers than we do but I can only go on the published figures. These show that we are charged 18 billion but are given an instant 5 billion rebate so only pay 13 billion. Then the EU returns 4.5 billion to go to farmers and poorer areas of the country. This leaves a net sum going to the EU of 8.5 billion. So the government could easily give the rebate to the farmers themselves - if they wanted to. They haven't mentioned this in any of their papers! https://fullfact.org/economy/our-eu-membership-fee-55-million/
The EU aint exactly doing much for our dairy farmers right now. In fact I tend to think the great plan of the EU is to slowly erode farming in the UK. Along with fishing. Once they have done that we will be totally dependant on them.
Hi Shiney, I'm not a lot of good on the general economics of the EU, but I think that basically you're saying the EU costs us £8.5 billion , so if I've got it right that's what we'd save by coming out of it. So, if that's all we're going to save and the farmers immediately take over half of this then what about other areas/industries etc that receive grants etc ? Also, going back to one of my previous points above how would it work on an area by area basis. As I've said Worcestershire as a whole ( not only concerning farming but other subsidies as well ) receives more than we pay in, so would we automatically be declared a bankrupt county ? And, if so, what would happen to our local council tax etc.
Hi Pete, I have to disagree with you about our dairy farms. The reason they're in such dire straights at the moment is not the EU's fault but the likes of Tesco's and other large supermarkets not paying a fair rate for their milk etc.
No because they can buy it cheaper from Europe, so our suppliers have to lower their price or go under. Easy to blame the supermarkets, but who buys from them?
So right now the Turkish government are negotiating with the under pressure Euro leaders regarding the movement of hundreds of thousands of refugees/immigrants. They want another £3.5 Billion from europe to limit the numbers traveling from Turkey to europe . Britain openly wants and encourages Turkey to join Europe. The same Turkey that jails kids for poking fun at the Turkish leader on Facebook , shuts down most free newspapers that arent under the governments control and sacks the journalists jailing many, allows the free movement of jihadis between turkey and syria and the same turkey thats treats injured Isis fighters in its eastern border hospitals.
Well I know I don't. I only ever go to a supermarket if there's a cd or dvd I want. Or occasionally to have a look at the plants in Aldis. I haven't bought food etc from a supermarket for over 10 years and don't expect to start again anytime soon.
That's not quite right It's 13 billion of which 4.5 is returned to the farmers and the poorer areas of the UK. The 8.5 is the net figure after all the returned subsidies.
I don't think it's true that the townies ignore the farmers. More likely they (we) don't understand all the issues. This is the problem. Nobody is telling us. We hear scare stories about the global economy and British trade, but not much on local/domestic issues.
Its true, Do I care about the car industry in this country, or aerospace, oil companies. Truth is, not really. If it doesn't directly affect me, then I'm not over concerned. I know that is a bit short sighted. But there a millions out there that are far more short sighted than me.# Guess I should go to specsavers
I think it's because we have a good town center with loads of independents, 2 butchers, 2 fresh fruit & veggie shops, 3 bakers, excellent fishmonger on the market etc. And, no supermarkets in the town center, they range from Tescos/ Aldis about a 15 min walk from the town to the Co-op which is about 3 miles out of town.
Not been to my town centre for over a year now. Dont actually know what language they use there anymore, can't park, its overcrowded, mostly stuff I dont want to buy anyway, jewellers, clothes, estate agents and junk shops. Only go out of town now.
