Contributions
1,788 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveAgain, I refer the hon. Gentleman to the point that I made earlier. If we started a consultation on a first come, first served scheme, everybody would apply that day and we would…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveI completely disagree with the premise of the question, as the hon. Gentleman will probably realise. He is right to say that we need generational change in farming, and there are…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveI am not laughing. This is a very serious point. I am genuinely concerned about the future of the farming sector if we do not get generational change. We will look closely at how…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveI hear the hon. Lady, but I repeat that we have 50,000 farmers in ELM agreements. The majority of farmers are already working with us to make that change to environmentally…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveWith record numbers of farm businesses in farming schemes and the sustainable farming budget successfully allocated, yesterday the Government stopped accepting new applications…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveWith your permission, Mr Speaker, I would like to update the House on the sustainable farming incentive. We stand on the edge of an unprecedented global transition for British…12 Mar 2025HANSARDPoints of Orderindicated dissent.12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveI am grateful to the hon. Lady for her question, but I point out to her that this scheme relates to England. The different devolved Governments have different schemes. She asked…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveThe hon. Gentleman and I have had many exchanges across the Chamber over the years. I would be very happy to speak to his farmers and to talk to him about the important work that…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveI thank my hon. Friend for her question. She makes absolutely the right point. We should be reassuring people out there that farmers who are in schemes are absolutely safe and are…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveThere is some complexity in that question that I might need to address directly with the hon. Gentleman. Landscape recovery is absolutely not affected, so it depends on the exact…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveThe hon. Lady raises an important point. SFI is only one part of the set of Department’s schemes to work with farmers on nature restoration. The Under-Secretary of State for…12 Mar 2025HANSARDSustainable Farming IncentiveWe have known it for five years.12 Mar 2025HANSARD Support for the Scotch Whisky IndustryIt is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Dame Siobhain. I thank the hon. Member for Moray West, Nairn and Strathspey (Graham Leadbitter) for securing the debate and…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for the Scotch Whisky IndustryI will come to the Budget measures in a moment, but first I endorse my hon. Friend’s point about the number of jobs the industry supports—41,000 in Scotland and a further 25,000…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for the Scotch Whisky IndustryI am grateful to the hon. Lady. We are well aware of the importance of those casks to the industry and their value. As well as working with Governments overseas to increase market…12 Feb 2025HANSARD Support for the Scotch Whisky IndustryI hear those concerns. We are addressing a whole range of financial issues across the economy, and we think this is a fair and balanced approach. To continue outlining some of the…12 Feb 2025HANSARDCat Breeding: RegulationUnder the Animal Welfare (Licensing of Activities Involving Animals) (England) Regulations 2018, anyone in the business of breeding and selling cats as pets needs to have a valid…06 Feb 2025HANSARDCat Breeding: RegulationI thank the hon. Member for his question and for his references. The Animal Welfare Committee has provided its opinion on the welfare implications of current and emergent feline…06 Feb 2025HANSARDAgriculture Sector: GrowthMy hon. Friend makes a very important point, but we need to make sure that we get the right balance between producing food and using our land for other purposes. That is why it is…06 Feb 2025