Contributions
207 recent contributions in Hansard
HANSARDInheritance Tax Relief: FarmsIt is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Dr Murrison. Dwight Eisenhower said that “farming looks mighty easy when your plow is a pencil, and you’re a thousand miles from…10 Feb 2025HANSARD Solar Farms: Agricultural LandI absolutely agree with the hon. Member’s points. I am not against solar energy—far from it—but we need to be smart about how we implement it and all the associated…28 Jan 2025HANSARD Solar Farms: Agricultural LandI agree with my hon. Friend that we should be prioritising locations that do not impact on our ability to meet our food security needs. The environmental benefits of solar farms…28 Jan 2025HANSARD Solar Farms: Agricultural LandI am sure we are all waiting with bated breath for the long-awaited land use framework. The National Farmers Union is well aware that British farmers host about 70% of this…28 Jan 2025HANSARD Solar Farms: Agricultural LandI thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention and I agree that that is the way forward. Let us consider the facts. Our agricultural land is dwindling at an alarming rate. We are…28 Jan 2025HANSARD Solar Farms: Agricultural LandI beg to move, That this House has considered solar farms on agricultural land. It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Sir Desmond. We are addressing an issue of great…28 Jan 2025HANSARD Solar Farms: Agricultural LandI thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I totally agree and will be coming to that point shortly.28 Jan 2025HANSARD Agricultural Property ReliefI commend the hon. Lady on her excellent speech. Given that we are asking farmers, who are already under so much emotional and financial pressure, to be even more active…28 Jan 2025HANSARD Solar Farms: Agricultural LandMy hon. Friend makes some very interesting points that I look forward to exploring further with him in the future. I agree that we need Government to intervene to adjust the…28 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillI thank my hon. Friend for her intervention, and applaud her for her work as an effective spokesperson on behalf of the farming community. Indeed, she pre-empted what I was about…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillI thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention. I would be delighted to have that conversation with representatives of the NFU in Northern Ireland and to reassure them on that…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillI beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. The Climate and Nature Bill has been four years in the making. The enormous amount of support that it has garnered from…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillI wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend. Reports by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs show that nature-friendly farming schemes can be a major pathway for…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillMy understanding, as a non-farmer, is that crop rotation is an effective way to regenerate soil. The second priority is to create more joined-up space for nature on land. Through…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillI applaud the fantastic work being done in Harlow to increase the number of trees. They are indeed life-enhancing and valuable self-contained ecosystems.24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillThat is not my interpretation of the Government’s position, and we have had some fruitful conversations. I shall move on briefly to the climate. While two sectors in climate—power…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillI wholeheartedly agree with my hon. Friend that we cannot go wrong in moving away from fossil fuels, given the implications for air quality as well as for the climate. I call on…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillI very much agree with the hon. Gentleman that the right thing to do is to be much more intelligent in our use of water, which will reduce the demand for clean water and reduce…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillI thank my hon. Friend for her intervention. I know Chichester harbour well and absolutely agree that this is vital work. There is hope. Nature is enormously resilient and has an…24 Jan 2025HANSARDClimate and Nature BillThank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. As the poem will no longer rhyme, I shall move on to its second half. It continues: “Make the powers pay, and make the waters clean for our play.”…24 Jan 2025