FARMERS' unions and opposition parties have joined forces to condemn the UK Government's 'Brexit betrayal' over a £95million shortfall in funding for Welsh agriculture.

But Welsh Secretary Simon Hart doubled down on the move describing the claims as 'unhelpful and untrue'.

NFU Cymru described the Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s spending review as a ‘bitter blow at a critical and extremely uncertain time’ for Welsh farmers.

The Farmers’ Union of Wales branded the decision a ‘Brexit betrayal’.

Following a 2019 Conservative manifesto promise, the Wales agricultural and rural development budget was expected to have been £337million, but the 2021-2022 budget will now be £242 million – a cut of around 28 per cent. The full loss when projected RDP spend and the 15 per cent pillar transfer is taken into account is £137m.

NFU Cymru president John Davies said: “The apparent £95million shortfall in the Chancellor’s Spending Review is a bitter blow for Welsh farmers at what is a critical and extremely uncertain time for our industry.

“In the build up to the EU referendum and thereafter, we have been consistently told that funding for Welsh farming would be maintained and protected following our departure from the EU – we were told Welsh farming would not receive a penny less in funding as we move out of the CAP.

“Now we appear to be in a position where Welsh agriculture looks like it will lose £95million of funding that it can ill afford to lose at any time, never mind with widescale and unprecedented changes and uncertainty lying ahead for the sector."

FUW president Mr Glyn Roberts said: “The 2019 Conservative Manifesto stated ‘...we will guarantee the current annual budget to farmers in every year of the next Parliament’, thereby securing the votes of many farmers in Welsh constituencies.

“The decision to slash the budget is therefore a complete betrayal of the farmers who have kept producing food and feeding the nation throughout the coronavirus pandemic, and adds to the extreme anger already felt following the UK government’s decision to oppose a legislative 'red line' in the Agriculture Bill that would have prevented the importation of low quality food in future trade deals.”

Direct Payments make up around 80 per cent of average Welsh farm incomes.

Welsh Liberal Democrats are now calling on Welsh Conservative MPs to speak out against the move and vote against the spending review if the decision is not reversed.

Cadan ap Tomos, Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd candidate for Ceredigion, said: “If they’re not reversed, these savage cuts will decimate farms of all sizes and threaten the hundreds of jobs that depend on local agriculture in Ceredigion.

“Now it is time for Conservative MPs to find their backbone and take a stand for farmers. Will they stand by their manifesto commitment, or will they keep loyally toeing the party line and try to spin their way out of this situation?"

Secretary of State for Wales, Simon Hart, said: “We have a clear manifesto commitment to maintain the current annual budget for farmers across the United Kingdom in every year of this Parliament. That is exactly what we are doing. Claims to the contrary are unhelpful and untrue.

“The response of the Farmer’s Union of Wales is disappointing and will cause undue concern to farming communities across Wales.

“The funding that the Chancellor announced is on top of the remaining EU funding that farmers and land managers across the UK will receive for agri-environment and rural development projects.

“The fact remains that Welsh farmers will continue to receive the same level of funding in 2021 as they received at the baseline in 2019.”