Motion that this House has considered the financial sustainability of the farming sector. Motion lapsed and sitting adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 10(14)).

Motion that this House has considered the financial sustainability of the farming sector. Motion lapsed and sitting adjourned without Question put (Standing Order No. 10(14)).

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the financial sustainability of the farming sector.

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. In a shameless effort to garner sympathy, I thank you for allowing me to sit down if I need to; I have a bad...

I beg to move,

That this House has considered the financial sustainability of the farming sector.

It is a great pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. In a shameless effort to garner sympathy, I thank you for allowing me to sit down if I need to; I have a bad...

I thank the hon. Member for securing a very good debate. On food security, in south Shropshire, just outside Onibury, there is a campaign to stop over 130 acres of solar panels going on good agricultural land. The plans would make it harder to be resilient and to provide food...

I thank the hon. Member for securing a very good debate. On food security, in south Shropshire, just outside Onibury, there is a campaign to stop over 130 acres of solar panels going on good agricultural land. The plans would make it harder to be resilient and to provide food...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. He will see this in the road map and in the Government’s approach. There needs to be the right balance between environmental approach, renewables and food production. I agree that the decision about where solar farms go is key.

We need to help...

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his question. He will see this in the road map and in the Government’s approach. There needs to be the right balance between environmental approach, renewables and food production. I agree that the decision about where solar farms go is key.

We need to help...

The hon. Member is right to say that we need to produce more food in this country but, at the moment, farmers are telling me that they are not putting crops in the ground because they cannot afford the fertiliser to sustain them because of the situation in the Gulf....

The hon. Member is right to say that we need to produce more food in this country but, at the moment, farmers are telling me that they are not putting crops in the ground because they cannot afford the fertiliser to sustain them because of the situation in the Gulf....

If the right hon. Member bears with me, I will get to exactly that point.

The second area of concern is the marketplace. The FFCC reports that farming productivity increased by 60% from the ’70s to the 2020s, but that farming incomes have not increased in line with that. The size...

If the right hon. Member bears with me, I will get to exactly that point.

The second area of concern is the marketplace. The FFCC reports that farming productivity increased by 60% from the ’70s to the 2020s, but that farming incomes have not increased in line with that. The size...

Thank you, Mr Turner—I am in a state of astonishment at being called first. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship once again. I thank the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for his articulate opening speech. Most of what I am going to say follows a...

Thank you, Mr Turner—I am in a state of astonishment at being called first. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship once again. I thank the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for his articulate opening speech. Most of what I am going to say follows a...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. As I frantically go through the speech that I wrote before the statement today, I might end up saying a load of things that have been covered already, so I will snip it really short, mindful of the short...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. As I frantically go through the speech that I wrote before the statement today, I might end up saying a load of things that have been covered already, so I will snip it really short, mindful of the short...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I will be brief.

It is wonderful that we are having this debate, and indeed that we had today’s statement, although sadly I was not able to be in the Chamber to hear it. We need to recognise that farmers...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I will be brief.

It is wonderful that we are having this debate, and indeed that we had today’s statement, although sadly I was not able to be in the Chamber to hear it. We need to recognise that farmers...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. It was in this Chamber, on 28 January 2025, that I was the only Labour MP to speak out against the Government’s proposed changes to agricultural property relief. I did so in the knowledge that such changes would have...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. It was in this Chamber, on 28 January 2025, that I was the only Labour MP to speak out against the Government’s proposed changes to agricultural property relief. I did so in the knowledge that such changes would have...

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. Let me start by inviting the new Minister—I welcome him to his place—to visit Dartmoor over the summer to meet farmers, commoners, the Dartmoor hill pony organisations and, importantly, the Dartmoor Land Use Management Group. I invite him to...

It is a privilege to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. Let me start by inviting the new Minister—I welcome him to his place—to visit Dartmoor over the summer to meet farmers, commoners, the Dartmoor hill pony organisations and, importantly, the Dartmoor Land Use Management Group. I invite him to...

Newcastle-under-Lyme is home to many brilliant farmers who work relentlessly to supply our shops, pubs and restaurants and to tend to our green and pleasant land. When I was elected I promised my farmers and their families that I would fight their corner every single day. We need a fairer...

Newcastle-under-Lyme is home to many brilliant farmers who work relentlessly to supply our shops, pubs and restaurants and to tend to our green and pleasant land. When I was elected I promised my farmers and their families that I would fight their corner every single day. We need a fairer...

It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I rarely miss an opportunity to speak about farming in this place. It was a privilege last October to be elected by Government MPs as the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on farming.

I suspect that there is...

It is always a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner. I rarely miss an opportunity to speak about farming in this place. It was a privilege last October to be elected by Government MPs as the co-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on farming.

I suspect that there is...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner.

About 55% of my Carlisle constituency is agricultural land. Farming remains vital to our local economy, our identity and our communities. However, more than half of the farmland in our county—some 54%—is classified as “less favoured area”. As a result,...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner.

About 55% of my Carlisle constituency is agricultural land. Farming remains vital to our local economy, our identity and our communities. However, more than half of the farmland in our county—some 54%—is classified as “less favoured area”. As a result,...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner.

The farming sector is vital. I know that because 88% of my constituency is agricultural land. Farms are a unique sort of business because they not only have to make our food and protect our countryside but, like all businesses,...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Turner.

The farming sector is vital. I know that because 88% of my constituency is agricultural land. Farms are a unique sort of business because they not only have to make our food and protect our countryside but, like all businesses,...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing the debate. I have been applying for a debate on this subject for many months, so it is great that we are having one. I warmly welcome the new farming Minister to his place, too.

I recently...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing the debate. I have been applying for a debate on this subject for many months, so it is great that we are having one. I warmly welcome the new farming Minister to his place, too.

I recently...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith), who set the scene incredibly well. I have four points of 30 seconds each. When we talk about farming in Northern Ireland, we are talking about family farms. Over...

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr Turner. I thank the hon. Member for North Northumberland (David Smith), who set the scene incredibly well. I have four points of 30 seconds each. When we talk about farming in Northern Ireland, we are talking about family farms. Over...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing this timely debate and welcome the Minister to his place.

I asked local farmers in Ribble Valley what they would like to highlight in this debate about profitability. As hon. Members would expect, the responses included the...

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for North Northumberland (David Smith) for securing this timely debate and welcome the Minister to his place.

I asked local farmers in Ribble Valley what they would like to highlight in this debate about profitability. As hon. Members would expect, the responses included the...

My hon. Friend is making an excellent point. It is not just about identity; we also cannot be reliant on food imports if we are going to be food secure as a nation.

My hon. Friend is making an excellent point. It is not just about identity; we also cannot be reliant on food imports if we are going to be food secure as a nation.

I completely agree. The main point I want to make, alongside all the powerful financial and security arguments that have been made, is that we need farming to be financially sustainable because we want it to be sustainable. We want it to be part of what we prioritise as this...

I completely agree. The main point I want to make, alongside all the powerful financial and security arguments that have been made, is that we need farming to be financially sustainable because we want it to be sustainable. We want it to be part of what we prioritise as this...