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Agricultural Policy

It may seem strange that someone from a constituency where only 4% of the population earn a living from agriculture should wish to speak today and oppose the possible winding up of the Agricultural Wages Board, but we live in polarised times, when modest changes to low incomes can mean the difference between simply getting by—as many farmers do—and living in outright poverty. The decision to establish the AWB was welcomed with open arms. It was clearly recognised in 1948 that a decision about rural workers’ wages and payment could not be left to market forces. Without the regulation afforded by the board, the protection of a safety net is removed, and there is no way of ensuring that workers are offered a fair wage or guaranteed a fair standard of living. As many as 152,000 farm workers in England and Wales rely on the protection of the AWB. The board got a fair deal for apprentices and seasoned farm managers alike. I fear that the majority will now be worse off.