WHETHER THEY voted leave or remain, or indeed have changed their mind since, a common remark when people discuss Brexit is what is now the point of it? 

Many who voted to leave hoped we would be walking away from the EU completely, with our pockets stuffed full of cash that would not have to go to Brussels; above all, they thought they would be escaping the excesses of EU regulation, particularly in agriculture.

Now it seems the chances of that happening are slim, with the Defra Secretary, Michael Gove, set to embrace EU environmental regulations and bring them into UK law. He is set to go even further than EU rules, setting up a new stand-alone environmental agency to deliver a green Brexit. 

His ‘big announcement’ confirms what a lot of people have believed all along – that farming and food are a long way down the Westminster agenda. That is no surprise, given that the Conservatives are now an entirely urban party, with little interest in its rural vote. Green policies attract more votes than policies that would suit what were once the Tory shire counties.

The Gove comments have gone down well in the mainstream media, with The Guardian questioning whether he has gone from a ‘shy green to a full throated environmentalist’. One of the most disliked policy aspects of the CAP was greening. In voting to leave the EU many farmers hoped they would be walking away from regulations divorced from practical farming realities.

In his comments Gove suggested his new agency would have an approach rooted in science. If that is the case it would be a big departure from the Brussels approach. But it is hard to see this being anything other than an organisation that follows EU policy, but gives it a UK twist. 

That is what civil servants have done for the 44 years we have been members of the EU and there is no longer reason to believe things will change. Indeed one of the most frequent comments over the years has been that UK officials gold-plated regulations. Now it seems that under Brexit, farming will face more of the same.

A healthy cynicism in farming about the Gove plan does not mean farmers do not want to deliver for the environment. Indeed despite what armchair green warriors think – and Gove is now one of them – farmers are the only people that can deliver for the countryside. They are the true custodians of the land, and managing it well is good for agriculture and the environment. 

What farmers do not want is to jump from the CAP, with all the income certainties it offered, to escape onerous regulations, to find themselves facing the same thing. Regulation escape was on offer when people like Gove were on the stump in 2016, persuading people to back Brexit. The promise then was a more gentle touch to regulation, and that is what farmers expect. It will take more than political spin to convince them they are not now swapping the Brussels frying pan for the London regulation fire.

What is frustrating is that Gove has singled out the environment for comment – presumably as an attempt to steady the political ship at a difficult time for the government. That he was widely praised for doing so by the left-leaning broadsheets, despite using the Dairy Telegraph to publish his article, is evidence this has worked. At a stroke he has deflected green criticism of the government and Brexit while grabbing the news headlines amidst relentlessly bad publicity for Brexit and the government. That is what politicians do, and we are wise to see through it and remain cynical.

What is truly frustrating is that this is yet again an example of piecemeal policy making. What is needed is an all embracing plan for agriculture, food promotion and the environment. That is what the CAP has delivered for 40 plus years, and Brussels has been getting a lot better at joined-up thinking within the CAP. 

Brexit will fail if we look to the past, we are leaving with a lot of regrets, or indeed believing we are losing out by moving away from it. For Michael Gove, singling out the environment for special attention might be a politically astute thing to do, but it will leave many farmers wondering what the point of Brexit is meant to be. Plus ca change.....?