Contributions
1,212 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDUK Chemical Industry: Regulatory DivergenceAs a new Minister, I am not sure that I am qualified to answer that question properly.26 Feb 2020HANSARDUK Chemical Industry: Regulatory DivergenceWell, as we have time, I will make the hon. Gentleman happy.26 Feb 2020HANSARDUK Chemical Industry: Regulatory DivergenceAs the hon. Member says, the export market is very important. There are exports worth £28.3 billion, with 57% of that going to the EU and 43% going elsewhere. It is clearly…26 Feb 2020HANSARDUK Chemical Industry: Regulatory DivergenceI understand the hon. Gentleman’s anxiety. What I will say to reassure him, in so far as I can in a live negotiating situation, is that we will avoid change for change’s sake. We…26 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Fifth sitting)The hon. Lady and I will discuss these issues over many years. I point out one important change made in the new version of the Bill relating to soil quality. It is really…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)It is particularly good, Sir David, to be discussing animal welfare provisions with you in the Chair. A certain amount of consensus has broken out again in Committee. The…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the hon. Lady for that assurance. I understand that she wants to ensure that we do not provide financial assistance to improve productivity or production in a way that…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)I cannot give the hon. Lady absolute assurance at the moment as to how the budget will be divided, as that is a matter for the development of the scheme. We will do a great deal…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)I think the hon. Lady and I are dancing around the same issue, which is that the ambitions do not need to be mutually exclusive. We absolutely believe that producing food and…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)At the moment, I cannot set out how the ELM scheme will work. That will be worked on, probably by all the people in this room, very carefully over several years, before we come up…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)It should have been obvious from my previous comments that I am a passionate smallholder, so I listened to what Members had to say with considerable interest. As I have said, I…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Fifth sitting)It is a pleasure to follow the hon. Members who have spoken with such passion. I would be delighted to visit all sorts of food producers in their constituencies whenever the diary…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank my predecessor and right hon. Friend for his amendment. I believe that he wishes to ensure that we are being comprehensive in our coverage of the word “livestock” in…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)Forgive me, Sir David, I am a humble lawyer trying to define the word “livestock” rather than a farmer of great experience, such as my right hon. Friend, who is trying to go…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)I thank the hon. Lady for drawing attention to the importance of peatland and the peatland habitats that we are lucky enough to have in this country. The protection and…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)The hon. Gentleman is definitely getting action. I set out earlier what is being done to preserve peatland at the moment: £10 million of peatland restoration is definitely action,…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Fifth sitting)I thank the hon. Gentleman for his considered amendments—I am enjoying his philosophical approach. I was brought up by a farmer who studied philosophy at university—he has joined…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Sixth sitting)I beg to move amendment 15, in clause 1, page 3, line 21, at end insert “made by the Secretary of State”. This drafting amendment makes clear that a “financial assistance scheme”…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Fifth sitting)I thank the hon. Lady for drawing attention to this important and pressing topic. We on the Government side are committed to leaving our environment in a better condition than we…25 Feb 2020HANSARDAgriculture Bill (Fifth sitting)I do not necessarily agree that all burning should be banned outright. Some low-level burning is not necessarily as harmful to the environment as the hon. Lady suggests. We can…25 Feb 2020