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Grand Committee proceedings (HC) on Wednesday, 8 February 2012, in the House of Commons, led by Cheryl Gillan. The answering members were Lord Hain and Lord Hain.

Agricultural Policy

UK Government's agricultural policy as it relates to Wales. Debate by the Welsh Grand Committee (morning and afternoon sessions).

Secondary information

Type
Grand Committee proceedings (HC)
Reference
WGC c15-38, 41-74 
Session
2010-12
Department
Wales Office
Committee
Welsh Grand Committee
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons Grand Committees
Proceeding contributions
Roger Williams | WGC c29 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important point. Those facilities serve the whole of south Wales and Powys a...
Show all contributions (156)
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c48 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely. It is a good example. The message of the NFU Cymru booklet and its agenda should b...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c56 (Link to this contribution) Order. I remind the Committee that we are considering the UK Government’s agricultural policy as it ...
Albert Owen | WGC c59-60 (Link to this contribution) That is still a cheap political remark. In 2000, the Labour Government asked the OFT to look into su...
Roger Williams | WGC c61-2 (Link to this contribution) Thank you, Mr Caton. I will be as brief as I can. My message for the Secretary of State, the Mini...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) I talk to the Farmers Union of Wales regularly. In fact, we spoke recently, as the right hon. Gentle...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c19 (Link to this contribution) Order. The Secretary of State may answer by all means, but let us be clear that we are discussing ag...
Lord Hain | WGC c15 (Link to this contribution) I am certainly happy to talk to the Secretary of State about that, and it was fine going to Wrexham,...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c15 (Link to this contribution) That the Committee has considered the matter of the UK Government’s agricultural policy as it relate...
Lord Hain | WGC c15 (Link to this contribution) I join the right hon. Lady in thanking the Minister for coming. Is she not desperately relieved that...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c15 (Link to this contribution) The right hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. I do not want to have the discussion here, but I wante...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) I intend to keep my replies to a minimum, because it is important for all Members to have a say. ...
Hywel Williams | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) Will the Secretary of State give way?
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c16-8 (Link to this contribution) I will make some progress, if the hon. Gentleman does not mind. This is the first time since 19...
Nick Smith | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) Nearly a third of agricultural workers live in accommodation provided by their employer. How does th...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) I think they will still have security. I hope that the hon. Gentleman is not casting aspersions on t...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) I am sure he will, and hopefully we will hear a speech from him later.
Lord Hanson of Flint | WGC c16 (Link to this contribution) I asked the Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, whether he suppor...
Jonathan Edwards | WGC c19 (Link to this contribution) I recently received correspondence from the Federation of Small Businesses stating that the Treasury...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c18-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point, and I hope that people who read the Committee’s proceedings ...
Albert Owen | WGC c18 (Link to this contribution) The Secretary of State makes an important point. Like other Welsh MPs, I have constituents who have ...
Albert Owen | WGC c20 (Link to this contribution) The issue affects agricultural workers in my area, as well as owners of land and property. I remind ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c20 (Link to this contribution) Sadly, it is a fact of life that bids to participate in programmes do not always succeed. This was a...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c19 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I talked to the FSB in Wales about that last night. I said t...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c19 (Link to this contribution) Will the right hon. Lady explain why Wales did not feature in the rural fuel rebate scheme, which wa...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c19-20 (Link to this contribution) As fuel prices were mentioned in our study of rural matters, it is obviously something of concern to...
Mark Williams | WGC c28-9 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Havard. I want to return to the subject, initi...
Jonathan Edwards | WGC c29 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that if there is to be a centralisation or rationalisation policy, sur...
Mark Williams | WGC c29 (Link to this contribution) That is an uncharacteristic note of criticism from my hon. Friend. He is right. Powys is an integral...
Lord Hain | WGC c27-8 (Link to this contribution) Wrongly reading the script is a regular occurrence for the Government on many rural policies, but it...
James Paice | WGC c30 (Link to this contribution) May I tell the hon. Gentleman that part of the reason behind the changes is that the work is disappe...
Mark Williams | WGC c29-30 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. I will come on to that point later. I refer to the answer the M...
Mark Williams | WGC c30 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for that response. I pay tribute to his expertise in this field. I was...
Lord Hain | WGC c23-4 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman knows, we do not take any Plaid Cymru motions seriously. That said, the role o...
Lord Hain | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) I completely agree with the Secretary of State. When she is on her next shopping trip to Harrods, I ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) As I have not yet had breakfast, my taste buds have been tempted by the right hon. Gentleman’s long ...
Lord Hain | WGC c24-5 (Link to this contribution) Methinks the right hon. Lady squirms too much. My hon. Friend the Member for Ogmore has reminded ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c24 (Link to this contribution) It has been decades since I have been into Harrods, let alone shopped there. I will learn about it f...
Lord Hain | WGC c25 (Link to this contribution) I know the hon. Gentleman froths at the mouth at the opportunity to talk about Europe, as do his col...
David TC Davies | WGC c25 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether the right hon. Gentleman believes that the UK Government should be willing to ignor...
Lord Hain | WGC c25 (Link to this contribution) We tried to encourage local procurement at every opportunity. The matter has become increasingly urg...
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c25 (Link to this contribution) I understand the right hon. Gentleman’s frustration at not knowing about the Government’s procuremen...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c25-6 (Link to this contribution) It is a well-trodden maxim that people can only succeed at what they measure. Does my right hon. Fri...
Nick Smith | WGC c26 (Link to this contribution) Working on a farm can be hard and dangerous. Without the Agricultural Wages Board, sick pay for a gr...
Lord Hain | WGC c26 (Link to this contribution) I would not go that far; my hon. Friend is far more generous than I am. I hope that the Secretary of...
Lord Hain | WGC c26 (Link to this contribution) I agree with my hon. Friend. He puts the point eloquently and forcefully. The abolition of non-en...
Lord Hanson of Flint | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) My right hon. Friend will know, because he has visited my constituency, that I represent a large num...
Lord Hain | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) I have already made the request; I do not intend to write to her as well. I expect a letter in respo...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) I look forward to receiving a letter from the shadow Secretary of State with all his calculations in...
Lord Hain | WGC c26-7 (Link to this contribution) I think it is shameful, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for drawing that to the Committee’s atte...
Susan Elan Jones | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) Does my right hon. Friend agree that all is perhaps not lost, and that the Government should go back...
Lord Hain | WGC c27 (Link to this contribution) It would not surprise me at all. We have the support of the rural community in wanting to retain the...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c21 (Link to this contribution) Before my right hon. Friend sits down, could I ask her to address this point? She has talked about t...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c21 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend brings up the draft Groceries Code Adjudicator Bill. I have a copy here, if anyone wa...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c21 (Link to this contribution) I bet you have. What is key is that 11 years ago the Competition Commission published a report th...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c20 (Link to this contribution) No, I will make some progress. Many points were covered, but the last point raised in our agricultur...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c20 (Link to this contribution) Earlier, we referred to tourism, another occupation that some farmers diversify into. Did the right ...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c20 (Link to this contribution) If the right hon. Gentleman writes to me with specific examples, I would be delighted to look at tha...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c20 (Link to this contribution) I am standing up for Wales. [ Interruption. ] The hon. Gentleman is not making a valid point. It wil...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c21 (Link to this contribution) I have been very generous in giving way. I am going to conclude.
Lord Hain | WGC c23 (Link to this contribution) Mr Havard, I gratefully accept that telling off and correction by your good self. There are press...
Jonathan Edwards | WGC c23 (Link to this contribution) On two occasions since the general election, the Labour party has had the opportunity to support Pla...
Lord Hain | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Secretary of State for facilitating the debate. She mentioned the previous time we discu...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) Order. Just to be clear, the delineation of the question is on the Order Paper; however, it is not t...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) Convince me, Mr Williams... I did advise everyone at the start that we had a lot of questions. We g...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c22 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that there is a groceries adjudicator; I do not think I said that. I think it was a s...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c21 (Link to this contribution) That is not a point of order for the Chair. I think you have made your point clearly. The question o...
Hywel Williams | WGC c21-2 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Havard. I think my point of order will be a proper one, in contrast to the p...
Albert Owen | WGC c21 (Link to this contribution) On a point of order, Mr Havard. Is it in order for a Member to inadvertently mislead the Committee b...
Guto Bebb | WGC c56 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, Mr Caton. I was going to make the point that many in my agricultural communities depend on p...
Guto Bebb | WGC c53-5 (Link to this contribution) It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Member for Ogmore. I remember the by-election in Ogmore where it...
Nia Griffith | WGC c55 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman accept that, even after those interim changes, the actual amount given to bu...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c53 (Link to this contribution) Order. I would like to start the wind-ups at 4 o’clock. Six hon. Members are indicating that they wo...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c59 (Link to this contribution) I did go on to read subsequent paragraphs and to say that the system had been set up, but it took ou...
Albert Owen | WGC c57-9 (Link to this contribution) I am glad to follow the hon. Member for Aberconwy because he is right that the content of the debate...
Guto Bebb | WGC c56-7 (Link to this contribution) Thank you for your guidance, Mr Caton. Another way to support the agriculture industry in Wales a...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c56 (Link to this contribution) Order. The hon. Gentleman cannot have heard what I said. The Question before the Committee is about ...
Sian C James | WGC c62-3 (Link to this contribution) It may seem strange that someone from a constituency where only 4% of the population earn a living f...
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c63 (Link to this contribution) I have two quick points. Will the hon. Lady explain how the situation would work where there were cr...
Sian C James | WGC c63-5 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, but I will not waste time on it. I am sorry; I will...
Roger Williams | WGC c60-1 (Link to this contribution) I guess that we are expecting a vote shortly, but I shall get on and make as much progress as I can....
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c61 (Link to this contribution) We now resume our debate. Fifteen minutes have been added on, so the wind-ups will start at 4.15 pm....
Sian C James | WGC c65 (Link to this contribution) The supermarket ombudsman was a great idea, and I will watch carefully to see what happens with the ...
Jonathan Edwards | WGC c65 (Link to this contribution) I wished to make this point in my speech, but I will not have the opportunity now. Milk is a case in...
Susan Elan Jones | WGC c67 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that it is most extraordinary that, in all the speeches and statements fro...
Nia Griffith | WGC c65-7 (Link to this contribution) Our agricultural enterprises are the mainstay of our rural communities. It is farmers’ painstaking w...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c72 (Link to this contribution) When listening to the arguments in relation to the AWB, did my hon. Friend recall that there were at...
David Jones | WGC c70-2 (Link to this contribution) May I say what a pleasure it is to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Caton? The attendance today ind...
Nia Griffith | WGC c67-9 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valuable point. It is simply a disgrace that the UK Government are letting do...
David Jones | WGC c74 (Link to this contribution) I am not entirely sure that I can accede to a meeting, but if the hon. Gentleman would care to write...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c73 (Link to this contribution) Briefly, in the remaining time, I want to say that one of my points has been lost in the mix. There ...
David Jones | WGC c72-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is entirely right. The Agricultural Wages Board may be seen to be a relic of a much e...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c30 (Link to this contribution) I agree fully with the hon. Gentleman’s sentiments and the case he makes. It is doubly unfortunate b...
Mark Williams | WGC c30-1 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the right hon. Gentleman, who is right to highlight the excellent pioneering work under...
James Paice | WGC c31 (Link to this contribution) I want to pick my hon. Friend up on that, because I know he will not want to say something that migh...
Mark Williams | WGC c31 (Link to this contribution) I stand corrected, and I thank the right hon. Gentleman for that point. The critical point, which I ...
Nia Griffith | WGC c31 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman remember that, on our visit to the laboratory, we looked down a microscope a...
Mark Williams | WGC c31-2 (Link to this contribution) Indeed. That made as great an impression on me as it did on the hon. Lady. I hesitate to say this, b...
Hywel Williams | WGC c32-3 (Link to this contribution) Agriculture and, particularly, the family farm are the backbone of Welsh rural life. Farming is not ...
Hywel Williams | WGC c33 (Link to this contribution) I thought that the hon. Gentleman might respond as I glanced his way.
Hywel Williams | WGC c33-5 (Link to this contribution) We are very much in favour of supporting small farmers, and I look forward to hearing the hon. Gentl...
Roger Williams | WGC c33 (Link to this contribution) Rather than going back to an old manifesto, let me say that one of the proposals for the reform of t...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) I note that the Minister is nodding. Mr Davies is a full-time presence who is engaging constructivel...
Hywel Williams | WGC c35-6 (Link to this contribution) As my right hon. Friend says, we do not want to increase food miles. There is a growing emphasis ...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point about the representation of Welsh interests. It is important t...
Hywel Williams | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) In those terms, the current Welsh Agriculture Minister is extremely successful—the previous one was ...
Hywel Williams | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) Indeed, the Minister has pointed that out to me effectively—should I confess that I am on Twitter, o...
Elfyn Llwyd | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) In this context, I think that I should mention that Mr Groucho Marx said that 90% of success is turn...
Roger Williams | WGC c36 (Link to this contribution) I pay tribute to the contribution of the Agriculture Minister in the Welsh Government on CAP reform....
Hywel Williams | WGC c36-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a good point because that is a matter of concern. [ Interruption. ] Perhaps...
James Paice | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) I am slightly puzzled by the hon. Gentleman’s reference to voluntary arrangements. That is not the p...
Hywel Williams | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) I stand corrected. I thought that the Minister referred to a voluntary code of practice earlier.
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c38 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman express Plaid Cymru’s view of the evidence from the National Farmers Union C...
James Paice | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) No. The code of practice is already in place, as the hon. Member for Ogmore said, and it is statutor...
Hywel Williams | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) I thank the Minister for that useful clarification.
Albert Owen | WGC c37 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the Minister for clearing up what the draft legislation proposes. Is the hon. Membe...
Hywel Williams | WGC c37-8 (Link to this contribution) No doubt that matter will be debated, but the Minister makes the important point that there will be ...
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c41 (Link to this contribution) You have caught me by surprise, Mr Caton, because I was half-expecting some concluding remarks from ...
Hywel Williams | WGC c38 (Link to this contribution) Our view is that we want the Welsh Government—[ Interruption. ] I will try to explain, if I am allow...
Chair of Welsh Grand Committee | WGC c38 (Link to this contribution) I am afraid that our time is now exhausted. Under Standing Order No. 102(4), I allowed the Minister ...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c45 (Link to this contribution) Will my hon. Friend give way on this point?
Mark Williams | WGC c44 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend talks about the difficulties faced by existing farmers. Will he also expand on the co...
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c44-5 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a good point. I read only this morning that the average age of farmers—I think ...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c41 (Link to this contribution) I simply point out that contrary to that point, as I think the hon. Member for Brecon and Radnorshir...
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c41-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point, but he of course overlooks the fact that the Farmers ...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c47-8 (Link to this contribution) Good. It is important to note the economic importance of farming, and it is great to see that NFU Cy...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c48 (Link to this contribution) I was pleased when I read about the Welsh Minister’s initiative. Does the hon. Gentleman agree that ...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c46 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful because I want some balance in the arrangements. Surely what one should do to tackle T...
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c45 (Link to this contribution) I am seconds away from finishing, but I will.
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c46-7 (Link to this contribution) It is good to serve again under your stewardship, Mr Caton, for the second time in two weeks on agri...
Lord Hart of Tenby | WGC c46 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend made a good point in the nick of time. Yes, of course he is right. Occasionally we ar...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c47 (Link to this contribution) Yes, indeed. That has been raised by all the farming unions and by tenant farmers as well. I have sp...
Guto Bebb | WGC c47 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point about the CAP reforms attracting new farmers into the ...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c51-3 (Link to this contribution) That is excellent news. Let me leave it at that. I am glad that such rapid progress is now being mad...
Cheryl Gillan | WGC c51 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a valid point. He knows that, within a few days, we will be fully compliant...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c51 (Link to this contribution) I did not expect to have an ally across the way. I would be more diplomatic. I would not tell the...
Susan Elan Jones | WGC c49 (Link to this contribution) I wonder whether my hon. Friend agrees with the point that was made by the Government Minister speak...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c49 (Link to this contribution) I am not saying that there is no need whatever this year to consider the AWB’s whole remit or that i...
Jonathan Evans | WGC c49 (Link to this contribution) Although the hon. Gentleman may regard the rates set by the AWB as a floor, might people not also ar...
David TC Davies | WGC c51 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes an excellent speech and a number of valid points, culminating by asking, ““...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c49-51 (Link to this contribution) I agree that it is not the one magic bullet in terms of how we should deal with the work force. I un...
Roger Williams | WGC c49 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has given this a lot of thought, but it strikes me that the number of people empl...
Huw Irranca-Davies | WGC c49 (Link to this contribution) Absolutely right. That is a valid point. The AWB is a positive mechanism, not a negative one. My app...
Subjects
Agriculture Wales
Link
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