Wales’ farming industry would “effectively come to an end” if the UK votes to leave the EU, first minister Carwyn Jones has warned.
Wales Online reports that Jones was speaking at the launch of Labour’s Wales in Europe campaign at Cardiff and Vale College’s aircraft engineering workshop at Cardiff Airport.
According to the news outlet, he warned that Wales’ farming sector risks losing hundreds of millions of pounds if there’s a vote to leave the EU, which could ultimately cause irreversible damage.
Jones said: “There are some who argue that if we are not members of the EU, there would immediately be a free trade agreement between the UK and the EU.
“I don’t believe that, I have to say. I think that would take many months, if not years to complete. And that would mean that we would lose jobs in manufacturing.
“And farming would come effectively to an end in Wales because our farmers depend on over £200 million a year of European subsidies and access to the European single market where we export a substantial amount of sheep and beef particularly.
“That uncertainty is something that we can do without.”
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