Tate & Lyle says we would be better off out of the EU without major changes

Tate & Lyle, the UK's last remaining sugar cane refiner, has said that unless David Cameron secures big changes to the way the EU works we would be better off out.

In 2017 the EU is removing restrictions on the amount of sugar beet that can be produced in the EU and will start subsidising EU sugar beet farmers when the price of sugar beet goes down due to the consequential over-supply. But the protectionist tariff on sugar cane - currently £246 per metric ton - will remain, costing consumers more and putting Tate & Lyle's future in the UK at risk.

Tate & Lyle had 6 refineries in the UK before we joined the EU and now has just one. They're quite clear who is to blame for the decline of their UK operations as well - EU regulations are "the single biggest impact on our business" according to the head of Tate & Lyle UK, Gerald Mason. He went on to say "If we carry on down this route it puts our business and the jobs here under real threat".