Saturday, 7 January 2012

UKIP's Agnew triumphs in Oxford debate

Friday, 6th January 2012

UKIP MEP and agriculture spokesman Stuart Agnew scored a resounding victory at an Oxford Union Conference debate, significantly changing the majority view held before the event.

Debating the motion earlier this week, “This House believes that British Agriculture could thrive outside of the European Union,” Mr Agnew found himself pitted against Liberal Democrat MP Andrew George and Young Farmers Club Agriculture Committee Member, Mark Houlton.

In a straw poll taken before the debate, 80% of the delegates voted against the motion. By the end of the evening Mr Agnew and his seconder, Milly Wastie, East Midlands Regional Officer of the Royal Agricultural Benevolent Institution, had turned the audience around and achieved a shock victory by 195 votes to 186.

In an at times heated debate, Mr Agnew outlined how the Common Agricultural Policy is letting farmers down. He commented on the chaos being created by the EU’s failure to enforce its own ban on battery cages and the huge burden of red tape Brussels places on the agriculture sector. Mr Agnew said: “UK farming policy should focus on producing more food for its population” and asked “Can we trust the EU to produce our food?”

Ms Wastie backed Mr Agnew in her remarks about the very complex nature of EU red tape which ties farmers in knots.

Mr George and his seconder attempted to convince delegates that the EU is essential to the future of British agriculture, while acknowledging the flaws in some EU policies.

Commenting after the debate: Mr Agnew said: “I am delighted with the result, not least because I have long wished to convince the farming community that dependence on the CAP is not in its best interests. In fact, its increasing disadvantages including the latest reform proposals coming from Brussels which betray a complete lack of understanding of the way farms work, have begun to make it untenable.”

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