Conservative MEP Julie Girling has welcomed news that EU funding for farmers, scientists and other projects will be replaced by the Treasury in the period immediately after Brexit.
But she warned that farmers still faced uncertainty over their future under a different government.
The MEP for the South West and Gibraltar, who campaigned for a Remain vote in the EU referendum, spoke out after Chancellor Philip Hammond said the Treasury would guarantee to back EU-funded projects signed before this year’s Autumn Statement. He also gave an assurance that agricultural funding now provided by the EU will also continue until 2020.
Mrs Girling said: “There will be relief that Theresa May’s Government is taking this step so promptly. It provides continuity and stability and is the right thing to do.
“However, it gives us no assurances about the future shape of funding, particularly for the rural economy. It would be helpful to clarify that the government will replace both the EU proportion of rural development money AND the UK government match funding.
“And what about the future?…Not all governments will be as friendly to farming and the countryside as this one. What might a Corbyn-led Labour government do, for example?.
“Our Government has been quick to offer reassurance – but it cannot dictate what will happen in future.”
