NSA statement on Brexit decision
24th June 2016
Phil Stocker, NSA Chief Executive, says: “A democratic decision has been made and now the focus of NSA will be very firmly on making the best of the political, economic and social direction ahead. The vote was very finely balanced, which means many people will be dissatisfied and disillusioned, but life will go on; we will still wake up in the mornings and people will still eat and enjoy life.
“You can’t say the decision overall is good or bad – we don’t know what is ahead – but life will be different. We need to focus our energy on managing the turbulence and volatility through what will be a disruptive time. For sheep farming, a strong and influential NSA will be needed more than ever. During this time of negotations and restructing of policies, regulations and support payments, we will need to be strong and active in speaking up for the value and benefits of the sheep industry. We need our voice to be heard and we need to influence the future. Many promises and suggestions have been made by the ‘Leave’ camp in terms of the future of farming and food – NSA will aim to hold people to those promises.
“NSA is working on a list of priorities for our sector during this two-year exit process and will influence things as much as we can, but also help prepare our members and the industry in order for them to be successful in the future. In the shorter term we are already seeing disruption in financial markets as nervousness influences the value of the pound. This could affect our domestic economy, expenditure/spending and home lamb markets, however, we also know the exchange rate is a big influencer on export demand and sheep prices and it wouldn’t be unreasonable to be optimistic over demand for UK lamb in the forthcoming months.”
