Rachael Maskell MP, Labour’s Shadow Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, responding to the Government’s publication of new statistics on farm incomes, said:

“It’s hardly surprising that farmers are struggling after six years of a Tory Government which has failed working people. But these figures, which show a dramatic fall in farmers’ incomes for the second year in a row, are especially grim reading.

“The Government’s failure to articulate a clear strategy for Brexit is adding further anxiety to an already tough situation, and Ministers need to act soon to provide the certainty rural businesses and communities need to plan for the future. Continued failure to do so risks turning hard times into a crisis for British farming.”

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