BRIDGWATER and West Somerset MP Ian Liddell-Grainger has called on all farmers to make their voices heard as the country moves a step nearer to writing its own agricultural policies.

He says there are huge opportunities waiting to be exploited by British farmers and growers once freed from the 'shackles' of the EU.

But, he said, ministers needed to understand the needs of the farming community and act on them if these were not to be missed.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said he was particularly concerned by the absence of any cast-iron Government commitment to continuing support for farming once the £3 billion a year Brussels subsidy came to an end.

And, he warned, while conservation groups and others were already pleading for any Government subsidy to be targeted at delivering ‘environmental goods’ that aim could only be achieved through first fostering and maintaining a prosperous farming community.

Mr Liddell-Grainger said UK farming had an ‘enormous’ potential to grow and diversify once it was free to do so without 'bureaucratic interference'.

“The one great thing Brexit will give us will be the ability to sing the praises of our food and drink as among the finest in the world without being told we’re not allowed to,” he said.

“We have fantastic opportunities ahead to market and export, to produce more flexibly so we provide the country with more of the food it needs when it needs it – and to create a far more exciting, dynamic and successful farming sector that we have seen for at least two generations.

“But it is also essential that all farmers get involved in the debate through their MPs as we start drawing up the blueprint.

"Farmers, not politicians or civil servants, are the real experts in agricultural matters and their views count.

“One of the most alarming statements I have heard in recent days is the assertion that the supermarket price war will continue to deliver cheap food to the British consumer – because that ignores the fact that the price war has driven many farmers out of business and is threatening to do the same to many more.

“Whatever means it takes, whether public meetings or petitions, or poster campaigns, the needs of the industry must be laid out and made clear so they can be taken into consideration as we map the future for one of the world’s great farming sectors.”