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

To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what assessment his Department has made of potential demand for UK produced sheep meat in the event that the UK leaves the EU without a deal.

The Government recognises the concerns of our UK sheep farmers and is determined to get the best deal for them as we leave the EU. The UK is the largest producer of sheep and by far the largest exporter of sheepmeat in the EU. Around a third of production is exported, 95% of which is to the EU.

We are doing all we can to mitigate the challenges our farmers will face and we have contingency plans in place to minimise disruption. In the event of a ‘no deal’, an increased availability of lamb on the domestic market could filter through to increased demand for our globally recognised product.

A recent study carried out by The Andersons Centre for the UK’s levy bodies for the red meat sector looked into the impact of tariff and non-tariff measures on the sector, which included analysis on domestic consumption.