National Pig Association chair Richard Lister, the Association’s chief executive Zoe Davies and policy services manager Lizzie Wilson will take a trip to Downing Street to outline the sector’s position ahead of government Brexit negotiations next month.

The Association team will be attending a meeting with Brexit Minister David Jones in Downing Street on 8th February. At the Conservative Party Conference in October, PM Theresa May said the government intends to trigger Article 50 to begin the UK’s withdrawal from the EU in March. Mr Jones told the NPA he would be pleased to meet the organisation to “discuss any concerns and the position of the British pig industry following the referendum”.

The Association had asked Brexit Secretary David Davis for assurances that the industry’s concerns will be heard by ministers and reflected in government policy after Britain leaves the EU.

The industry group has expressed concerns about the trade and immigration implications of Brexit, calling in particular for continued access to labour from overseas. However, Theresa May has suggested that the government’s post-Brexit policy focus will be on curtailing immigration rather than maintaining access to the EU single market, and immigration minister Robert Goodwill has told the Association that the “public have sent a clear message that it must be a priority in our negotiations to gain more control of the numbers of people who come [to Britain].”

The government has come in for serious criticism over its handling of Brexit, and especially the lack of transparency around its aims and new policy positions. Concerns deepened when the UK’s ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers resigned on 3rd January. Once triggered, Article 50 will give the UK two years to negotiate an exit from the EU, with an extension to this only possible if there is universal agreement from member states.  Sir Ivan had previously told government officials that a comprehensive withdrawal and new UK-EU trade deal could take ten years to finalise.