New Study Predicts Half Of UK Farms To Go Bankrupt In Case Of No-Deal Brexit

A no-deal Brexit could hurt UK farmers due to future EU tariffs coupled with the potential lack of domestic support, a report commissioned by the People's Vote campaign showed on Thursday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 15th August, 2019) A no-deal Brexit could hurt UK farmers due to future EU tariffs coupled with the potential lack of domestic support, a report commissioned by the People's Vote campaign showed on Thursday.

The People's Vote is an anti-Brexit campaign group advocating for a new referendum on the final divorce agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union.

"The combination of the removal of support payments - only a proportion will be made up by enhanced environmental payments - and an adverse trading environment will render the majority of farm businesses unviable. By the mid-2020s a large proportion of farm businesses - 50% or more is not an unreasonable estimate - recognising that they face an unprofitable future will decide to cease trading," the report said, as cited by The Guardian newspaper.

In 2016, the United Kingdom voted to leave the European Union on March 29, 2019. However, due to former Prime Minister Theresa May's failed efforts to secure an acceptable agreement with Brussels, prospects for a no-deal Brexit are becoming more realistic. Boris Johnson, May's successor, has made clear his willingness to go down that route.

Anti-Brexit campaigners have consistently been warning of various dramatic consequences that could result from the United Kingdom's exit from the European Union without a deal.