Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what plans the Government has to support UK farmers in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

As any responsible Government would, we are preparing for the possibility of no deal, which is why we have contingency plans in place to minimise disruption for the food and farming sector as much as possible.

We are in close contact with the farming unions and other farmer representatives across the UK. Alongside the publication of technical notices, we continue to work closely with farmers, businesses and trade associations across the food and drink sector, from farm to fork, to keep them informed of exit preparations.

We have committed to the same funding for farm support until the end of this Parliament, whether the UK leaves with or without a deal. In a no deal scenario, the current EU Common Agricultural Policy legislation will be retained under the Withdrawal Act 2018 and modified through secondary legislation. This will provide a legal basis for its continuation until the passage of the Agriculture Bill. We have also already guaranteed that any projects where funding has been agreed before the end of 2020 will be funded for their full lifetime, including in a no deal scenario. The guarantee also means that the Government and the devolved administrations can continue to sign new projects after the UK leaves the EU during 2019 and 2020.