British farmers would suffer under a post-Brexit trade deal between the UK and the US, John Major fears.

The former UK prime minister shared his concerns for British family farms in a wide-ranging address to the Irish Institute for European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin on Tuesday. The US would want better access for their agricultural products into a post-Brexit UK, he claimed. “I think that would be disastrous for farmers and rural communities,” due to the larger scale of US farms, he said.

Trade deals

He poured cold water on the idea that Brexit would provide a trade bonanza for the UK. By leaving the EU, the UK was leaving 53 trade deals with most of the main economies of the world, Major said. The only countries the EU didn't have trade deals with were the US, China, India and Japan, he explained, adding that a deal with Japan has been completed since the Brexit referendum. He wondered if the UK, with its 60m population, would be in a position to strike markedly better trade deals than the EU, with its market of half a billion people. “I think not,” he said.

Peace process

Major, who agreed the Downing Street declaration this week 25 years ago with then Taoiseach Albert Reynolds, expressed fear over the destabilising effect of Brexit on the peace process. “We must revoke Article 50 with immediate effect,” he said, stopping the withdrawal process and allowing time to find a better outcome.

When asked by theIrish Farmers Journal if he felt the UK would lower its standards around food production post-Brexit, Major simply replied: “No, I don't.”