Conservative MEPs Julie Girling and Anthea McIntyre have congratulated the National Farmers Union for backing the remain campaign in the EU referendum.
They said the decision showed “good sense and good leadership”.
They spoke out after the union, which represents 55,000 farmers across England and Wales, threw its weight behind the campaign for Britain to remain in Europe, saying that “the interests of farmers are best served by our continuing membership.”
Mrs Girling and Miss McIntyre, MEPs for neighbouring regions of the South West and West Midlands, issued a joint statement saying: “Subsidies from the EU made up 55 per cent of UK farm income in 2014. Leaving the EU would threaten that level of income in several different ways.
“The very fact of leaving would put a huge hole in public finances and make it very difficult for the UK government to sustain this level of support. In addition there can be no certainty that a future UK Government would remain sympathetic and helpful towards the farming industry in particular and the countryside in general.
“The EU money supports family businesses and the jobs they generate in rural communities everywhere. They don’t just support farms and farming, but rural society as a whole.
“Leaving would throw that whole support network for the countryside into doubt.”
