A FARMING union is calling on the UK Government to take back control.

Following an emergency meeting of the FUW’s chairmen and presidential team last week, the union is calling on the UK Government to immediately withdraw Article 50 and take back control of the process of exiting the European Union.

Speaking last Wednesday, FUW president Glyn Roberts said: “I spent all day in the House of Commons yesterday and discussed the urgent need to safeguard the agricultural industry with MP’s from across the political spectrum prior to the meaningful Brexit vote.

"I made it very clear that we can’t afford to crash out of the EU with no deal.

"The consequences would be devastating.

"Given the result of this vote and the dangers of a no-deal scenario, our chairmen and presidential team felt that the only way we can take back control of the Brexit process is to withdraw Article 50 and by doing so, safeguard the future of the agricultural industry, not just in Wales but across the UK."

Mr Roberts added: "There seems to be growing support for a second referendum across the country, which appears to be reflected in our own sector and we will be discussing this further at our next grand council at the end of the month.

"But, given that time is running out, the FUW urges the UK Government to take immediate action."

NFU Cymru has responded to the House of Commons’ rejection of the Prime Minister’s Brexit deal at the meaningful vote stage.

Also speaking last Wednesday, NFU Cymru president John Davies said: "The scale of last night’s Government defeat puts beyond doubt that there is no majority for the Prime Minister’s deal and an impasse has been reached.

"This leaves us no further forward in knowing what sort of future relationship we will have with the EU27 after Brexit.

"The Prime Minister has spoken of opening up a dialogue with representatives from other political parties in order to try and find a way forward.

"The next few days will be critical and we will continue to monitor developments very closely.

"However, time is extremely short and as we head toward our scheduled departure from the EU at the end of March, my worst fear is that this drift and paralysis will see us sleep-walking into a ‘No-deal’ Brexit.

"For NFU Cymru a ‘No-deal’ scenario would be completely unacceptable.

"Under ‘No deal’, we would see very significant WTO tariff rates applied to our exports, pricing us out of our nearest and most valuable export market straight away.

"In addition to that, as a third country, we would face significant regulatory barriers when it comes to exporting to the EU27, further eroding our competitive position."