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Agricultural Policy

I thank the Secretary of State for facilitating the debate. She mentioned the previous time we discussed agriculture. From memory, I think that that meeting was in Carmarthen, and we had massed ranks of farmers outside, whom the then Secretary of State, Ron Davies, addressed. They were seeking liberation from 18 years of miserable Conservative policies on agriculture and rural affairs. While I welcome this Welsh Grand Committee on rural issues and the Welsh countryside, agriculture and rural affairs are largely devolved to the Welsh Assembly. Notwithstanding the Clerk of the Committee’s helpful delineation on the Order Paper of what is in order, I wondered about the Government’s motives in calling the debate, not least because the Secretary of State has lost no opportunity to bash the First Minister and the Welsh Government. I am glad that she has been on better behaviour today; she has not indulged in that unfriendly sport.