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Opposition day on Monday, 15 June 2009, in the House of Commons, led by Lord Herbert of South Downs. The answering member was Jim Fitzpatrick.

Rural Communities (Recession)

Impact of the recession on rural communities. Thirteenth opposition day debate (part 1). Main question negatived on division (205 votes to 280). Amendment agreed on question.

Secondary information

Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
494 c40-92 
Session
2008-09
Department
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Graham Stuart | 494 c73 (Link to this contribution) Holderness has the most enormous gas infrastructure, with Langeled, the world's longest pipeline, co...
Christopher Fraser | 494 c73 (Link to this contribution) I agree wholeheartedly with my hon. Friend. Many of my constituents ask why they cannot get those be...
Show all contributions (125)
Peter Atkinson | 494 c73 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the things that annoys people in rural areas is the cheaper ra...
Christopher Fraser | 494 c71-3 (Link to this contribution) I do not want to get diverted on to by-election issues, but I will say that it is no coincidence tha...
David Leslie Taylor | 494 c73 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will have been a student of post-war politics, so he will know that about 25 year...
Christopher Fraser | 494 c73 (Link to this contribution) I am enormously grateful to my hon. Friend, who makes a valid point. On occasions, there is more gas...
Christopher Fraser | 494 c68-71 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for not being in the Chamber at the beginning of the debate, but I was chairing a Statut...
James Duddridge | 494 c71 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making some fascinating points, particularly about the rural economy. He has just ...
Eric Martlew | 494 c66 (Link to this contribution) I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman. What percentage of his work force is claiming jobsee...
Speaker | 494 c87 (Link to this contribution) Order. May I ask hon. Members who have just come into the Chamber and who are conducting private con...
Robert Goodwill | 494 c87 (Link to this contribution) On the closing down of post offices, perhaps the Minister could have a word with the Minister of Sta...
Dan Norris | 494 c87 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.
Speaker | 494 c88 (Link to this contribution) I ask the Serjeant at Arms to investigate the delay in the Aye Lobby.
Edward Timpson | 494 c76-7 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for raising that point. It is true that farmers who were part of a c...
Philip Dunne | 494 c77-8 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to have been called slightly earlier than I expected. It is a pleasure to participate ...
David Leslie Taylor | 494 c78 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman would generously acknowledge that in the Government's forestry polic...
Philip Dunne | 494 c78-9 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to learning more about the national forest to which the hon. Gentleman refers. I wis...
Christopher Fraser | 494 c74-5 (Link to this contribution) I am not taking another intervention from the hon. Gentleman, but I will allow him to write to me, a...
Graham Stuart | 494 c76 (Link to this contribution) Because of the dairy in his constituency, my hon. Friend is well aware of the impact on its employee...
Edward Timpson | 494 c75 (Link to this contribution) I wish to make a short contribution to today's timely and welcome debate. In doing so, I am wearing ...
Christopher Fraser | 494 c74 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman misunderstands what this debate is about. If he looked at the monitor, he would s...
Christopher Fraser | 494 c85 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that it is a great pity that no Labour Back Bencher has contributed to the d...
Dan Norris | 494 c85-7 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for that helpful intervention. It is up to hon. Members to decide whether...
James Paice | 494 c83-4 (Link to this contribution) The 1980s are a subject for another day, but I assure the hon. Gentleman that I probably have a much...
Dan Norris | 494 c84-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) for his kind welcome to my colleag...
Tim Farron | 494 c83 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
James Paice | 494 c81-3 (Link to this contribution) May I start by properly welcoming both new Ministers to the Department? The hon. Member for Poplar a...
Peter Atkinson | 494 c80-1 (Link to this contribution) First, may I congratulate the Minister of State on his appointment to his new job? We have over the ...
Philip Dunne | 494 c79 (Link to this contribution) I am sorry, but I will not take an intervention, as I am conscious that another Member wishes to spe...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c41-2 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman about the importance of food security. He knows that we had an Oppos...
Ben Wallace | 494 c42 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that, when an employer or business goes bust in an urban area, the Governm...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c42 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a strong point. There is enormous concern in the agricultural community about t...
Julia Goldsworthy | 494 c42 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has just referred to the impact of the collapse of the car market on urban areas,...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c42-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady makes an interesting point, which is a reflection of what I want to say about the pote...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c43 (Link to this contribution) I urge my hon. Friend not to misunderstand what I said about farming. I said that farming was a vita...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c43-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman must have extraordinary prescience, because I was about to come to that very poin...
Stewart Hosie | 494 c43 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman spoke about the rise in unemployment in rural areas. He will be aware that many s...
Jamie Reed | 494 c44 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way, and I apologise to all Opposition Members who ha...
Tobias Ellwood | 494 c40 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps we should ask the House authorities to check whether the Annunciators are working in the off...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c41 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps the Minister would like to intervene again and tell me whether the Secretary of State will l...
Marquess of Lothian | 494 c41 (Link to this contribution) Is not part of the problem the Government's perception in the past 12 years of rural areas and the c...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c41 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. Despite the high quality of the one Labour Back Bencher who is present,...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c41 (Link to this contribution) I bring apologies from the Secretary of State. We take exception to the accusation that he is not co...
Rob Marris | 494 c41 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman for being so generous. I agree with him about the importance of ...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c41 (Link to this contribution) I will happily give way to the quality Labour Member.
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c41 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my right hon. and learned Friend. It is important to remember that rural areas are not ...
Tobias Ellwood | 494 c40 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point about the signal that the Government are conveying to the na...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c40 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move,"That this House recognises the serious impact that the economic downturn is having ac...
Speaker | 494 c40 (Link to this contribution) I inform the House that I have selected the amendment in the name of the Prime Minister.
Tim Farron | 494 c62 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I look at my own constituency as a microcosm. Rising prices ...
Tim Farron | 494 c62-3 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, "The Archers" is doing a great job in popularising that technology. However, this country is...
David Heath | 494 c63 (Link to this contribution) Does that not bespeak a complete failure of the principle of rural proofing, which the Government en...
Tim Farron | 494 c63 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is absolutely right. I referred earlier to acute hospital services, which are probabl...
Eric Martlew | 494 c64 (Link to this contribution) Sometime, when the hon. Gentleman has time, I will tell him the history of Kendal general hospital. ...
Tim Farron | 494 c64 (Link to this contribution) I appreciate that in many rural areas it is more difficult to attract a certain number of applicants...
Julia Goldsworthy | 494 c64 (Link to this contribution) To give a perspective from the other end of the country, upper gastrointestinal cancer services have...
Tim Farron | 494 c64-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a tremendous point. Surely the point is that we have put an awful lot of money ...
Robert Walter | 494 c65-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker, for calling me early in this debate. I have some regret, h...
Peter Atkinson | 494 c60 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has been talking about investing in sustainable and rural communities. Northumber...
Tim Farron | 494 c60-1 (Link to this contribution) I am not directly familiar with the case, but I am sure that like all local authorities, Northumberl...
Julia Goldsworthy | 494 c59 (Link to this contribution) Do we not also need to ensure that consumers are properly educated about what happens and are not mi...
Tim Farron | 494 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) I could not agree more with my hon. Friend. Honesty in presentation, packaging and labelling of food...
Tim Farron | 494 c59 (Link to this contribution) I agree very much with the hon. Gentleman, who is my constituency neighbour. My great concern is tha...
Jamie Reed | 494 c62 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman, and how dare he? Does the hon. Gentleman agree that the real a...
Dan Rogerson | 494 c61 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to my hon. Friend for his exposition of the problems that all our rural communities ar...
Tim Farron | 494 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has made an excellent and incredibly important point. Another issue in my constituenc...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c56 (Link to this contribution) On behalf of the Department, I am grateful for the appreciation expressed by my hon. Friend. If my m...
Peter Atkinson | 494 c56 (Link to this contribution) On the subject of Dairy Farmers of Britain, it is good news that most of the suppliers, particularly...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c56-7 (Link to this contribution) My apologies to the hon. Gentleman, but I am not in a position to respond to that point directly. Th...
Jamie Reed | 494 c59 (Link to this contribution) I am very grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. We share the fantastic county of Cumbria, a...
David Heath | 494 c57 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman must realise that the Carter review's interim report is hopelessly inadequate on ...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c57 (Link to this contribution) I hear what the hon. Gentleman says. As I mentioned, Lord Carter has asked the Commission for Rural ...
Tim Farron | 494 c57-9 (Link to this contribution) I, too, would like to express my disappointment at the absence from the debate of the Secretary of S...
Jamie Reed | 494 c59 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Bellingham | 494 c54 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is incredibly generous in giving way. I agree that local councils should spearhead the ...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c54 (Link to this contribution) Again, my hon. Friend makes a telling point and observes the weaknesses of the Opposition's policies...
Rob Marris | 494 c53-4 (Link to this contribution) The Homes and Communities Agency plans to build 10,300 rural homes in three years, and that is a woe...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c53 (Link to this contribution) We have given a commitment that there will be no further rail closures until 2013 and we have been s...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris) paid me a compliment and gave m...
Jamie Reed | 494 c55 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend mentioned delivering 10,300 more affordable rural homes, but that will not be enough....
Andrew Murrison | 494 c53 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is trying to conflate the experience of the recession in urban and rural areas. Does he...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c52-3 (Link to this contribution) No, I would not for a second question the statistics that the hon. Gentleman cites about his constit...
Robert Walter | 494 c52 (Link to this contribution) The Minister said that he thought that rural areas were holding up well. How does that translate int...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c51 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very interesting point about what was omitted from the speech made by the hon...
Rob Marris | 494 c51 (Link to this contribution) On that point, is my hon. Friend aware that in detailing the litany of wonderful policies that they ...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c51 (Link to this contribution) I am not ignoring the issue of poverty in rural areas and, of course, I acknowledge that it exists. ...
James Paice | 494 c51 (Link to this contribution) I congratulate the Minister on his appointment. Before he finishes his catalogue of what he thinks i...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c51-2 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady says that water poverty is not being appropriately addressed, and I am sure that she i...
Julia Goldsworthy | 494 c51 (Link to this contribution) The causes of poverty in rural areas may vary from place to place. In the south-west, water poverty ...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c52 (Link to this contribution) I took note of the hon. Gentleman's comment about rural businesses looking to diversify, especially ...
Tobias Ellwood | 494 c52 (Link to this contribution) I also welcome the Minister to his post. I invite him to seek out an organisation called Farm Stay U...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c50-1 (Link to this contribution) I understand that the DWP has suspended any further closures, particularly in these difficult econom...
Lord Bellingham | 494 c50 (Link to this contribution) The Minister mentioned employment prospects and getting advice on employment. Does he share my conce...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c50 (Link to this contribution) I acknowledge the issue raised by the hon. Gentleman. These are choices that individuals make. I rec...
Ben Wallace | 494 c50 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for making the point about fairness and justice for all. Does he there...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c49 (Link to this contribution) I am only too pleased to apologise to the hon. Gentleman on behalf of the Department, and I will end...
William Cash | 494 c49 (Link to this contribution) With respect, the Minister has already said something about his predecessor, and I rise to make a si...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c49 (Link to this contribution) I have not said anything yet, but I am very happy to give way to the hon. Gentleman.
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c48-9 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move an amendment, to leave out from "House" to the end of the Question and add:""recognise...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c47-8 (Link to this contribution) I shall make some progress, if the hon. Gentleman does not mind. In the long term, we need to ensur...
Rob Marris | 494 c47 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c47 (Link to this contribution) There has certainly been significant rural deprivation in many parts of England for some time, and I...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c47 (Link to this contribution) I strongly agree with my hon. Friend. As he will know, we have been running an "honest food" campaig...
Jamie Reed | 494 c47 (Link to this contribution) I am extremely grateful to the hon. Gentleman for giving way. He is being very generous with his tim...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c45 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend about the importance of tourism as a major rural industry. It is particu...
Andrew Murrison | 494 c47 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that another practical measure that the Government could take is to ensure...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c46-7 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my right hon. Friend. As I said, there is a danger of a growing digital divide—we alrea...
Lord Bellingham | 494 c45 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is making an excellent speech, and I am sorry to interrupt him. He mentioned small bu...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c45 (Link to this contribution) The Commission for Rural Communities mentions two definitions of rural communities. The standard one...
Tobias Ellwood | 494 c45 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend join me in paying tribute to an important part of rural business—the tourism ind...
Lord Herbert of South Downs | 494 c45 (Link to this contribution) I am always happy to give way to my hon. Friend, and I strongly agree with him. Access to credit is ...
William Cash | 494 c43 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend just said that farming forms a relatively small part of the rural economy, but with r...
Rob Marris | 494 c56 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has dealt with milk; may I congratulate him on honey, too? With colony collapse disor...
Jim Fitzpatrick | 494 c54 (Link to this contribution) The Government are trying to provide the best local government framework that we can. We have consul...
Greg Knight | 494 c45-6 (Link to this contribution) May I take my hon. Friend back to what he said a few moments ago? Does he not accept that it is of t...
Robert Walter | 494 c66-8 (Link to this contribution) I do not have those figures immediately to hand, but I will come back to the hon. Gentleman. The per...
Dan Norris | 494 c87-8 (Link to this contribution) I was very kind to give way to the hon. Gentleman, since he had only just walked into the Chamber, s...
Rob Marris | 494 c41 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Subjects
Agriculture Business Broadband Farms Insolvency Fuels Government assistance Internet Economic situation Public houses Post offices Milk Tourism Rural areas Unemployment Diversification Dairy Farmers of Britain
Link
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