Farmers Reliant on EU Subsidy May Want Brexit Anyway
Freedom poses risk to Brussels subsidies most need to stay afloat — proponents expect the U.K. to foot a £3 billion bill for aid.
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For Britain’s farmers, leaving the protective custody of the European Union would mean a kind of freedom they haven’t experienced in decades. It’s just not clear if the change would be profitable.
A U.K. vote in June to determine continued membership in the bloc is creating a dilemma for everyone from Welsh dairymen to English wheat farmers and Scottish potato growers. They are weighing the opportunity to gain more local control of their businesses against the risk of losing some 3 billion pounds ($4.35 billion) in annual subsidies that many rely upon to stay afloat.