Blog: Re-adjusting our policy priorities

She writes:

What a difference a day makes. After months of political debate in which the NFU has played a full role, including holding 84 events and engaging over 4,000 of our members in the debate - this in addition to the EU roadshow we held before the Campaign, we finally have a result on the EU Referendum. 

However, don’t expect to wake up any time soon to dramatic changes in the rules and regulations which your business has to comply with. Unravelling ourselves from the EU is not going to be a straightforward or swift process and may take several years to resolve. As Prime Minister David Cameron indicated this morning, it won’t be until the new PM is in place that the official withdrawal process is likely to start.   
 
But I can promise you that today marks the first day of a new chapter of work for both my department and colleagues across the whole of the NFU.  

The UK Referendum has shaken the EU geo-political landscape including our own political institutions. But this does offer a unique opportunity to reshape the UK’s agricultural, trade and environmental policies. There will undoubtedly be a great deal of competition between different parts of the economy and public spending to gain the attention of the Government during this time, but the NFU has a unrivalled track record at being listened to. 

Over the coming weeks and months the NFU will be consulting with our members to start to define what our new agricultural policy should look like. Your views are going to be vital input to this activity. Whatever that new domestic agricultural policy looks like, the NFU’s primary objective is to ensure that our members operate in an enabling environment allowing their businesses to grow and flourish, ensuring that UK farmers can continue to make a meaningful contribution towards addressing the global challenges that society faces.  
 
However, our first step into this new policy world will be to seek support and steer from NFU Council. For this reason we have called for an extraordinary Council meeting on 1 July 2016. This will be the opportunity to discuss and identify the key policy areas that need to be reformed and collectively agree on the NFU action plan to achieve those objectives.  
 
So, if you were already feeling weary from the 10 weeks of the official Referendum campaign watch this space – we’ve some way to go! But, more than ever this is a time when there really is strength in our membership.