Extract from Wales Assembly questions to the Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning and Rural Affairs - Oct 3
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Llyr Gruffydd AM: Well, I think people will be very disturbed
by the fact that the Government clearly hasn't done its homework,
because you are pursuing particular proposals, albeit in
consultation form. So, how can you put those forward without
knowing what the implications will be? How can you expect people to
respond meaningfully to a consultation when, actually, you're not
able to tell them what effect,...Request free trial
Llyr Gruffydd
AM: Well, I think people will be
very disturbed by the fact that the Government clearly
hasn't done its homework, because you are pursuing
particular proposals, albeit in consultation form. So,
how can you put those forward without knowing what the
implications will be? How can you expect people to
respond meaningfully to a consultation when, actually,
you're not able to tell them what effect, if any, those
changes will have on their businesses, on rural
communities and farming families the length and breadth
of Wales? And it's been said, of course, and you've
alluded to this now, that Brexit could lead to
cataclysmic effects in terms of agriculture here in
Wales, and introducing the changes that you propose to
introduce at the same time could well make things worse,
but, 'We don't know yet because we haven't done our
homework.'
Now, people are telling me that the proposals, particularly in relation to doing away with basic payments to farmers, could do to our rural communities what Margaret Thatcher did to industrial communities in Wales. We've heard about the Highland Clearances in Scotland; well, if we are looking at family farms going out of business, then it will be the upland clearances of Wales. We're standing on the edge of a cliff, Cabinet Secretary, and in taking away basic payments, you're taking away the safety net that Welsh farmers have. And, I have to say, it must be a very lonely place for you at the moment, Cabinet Secretary, because it's only you and Michael Gove who are pursuing this policy. We know that our principal competitors in the European Union will continue to take over 70 per cent of common agricultural policy support as direct payments. The Scottish Government is maintaining basic payments. Northern Ireland will do so as well. Even Labour's shadow DEFRA Secretary, Sue Hayman, has announced that Labour in England would maintain basic farm payments. Are you seriously still going to pursue this coalition between the Welsh Labour Government and the UK Tory Government even when it contradicts your own party policy?
Lesley Griffiths
AM (Cabinet Secretary for Energy, Planning
and Rural Affairs): Well, you've
made some very generalised statements there. First
of all, yes, I am going to pursue it. That's the first
thing. The second thing is that this is Welsh Labour
policy. In relation to what you're saying about Sue Hayman, I know of the comments
that she made at the NFU fringe meeting in the party
conference. I've seen her speech. I've spoken to her on
several occasions. She believes her comments have been
misinterpreted by—. It was an NFU Cymru fringe event. I
understand that she will be writing to the president
of NFU Cymru to make sure that her
comments are understood.
I think that most people I speak to would agree that BPS payments have not done enough to improve farm productivity. You say that people are disturbed. This paper, 'Brexit and our land', came out of the Brexit round-table. You will have heard me refer to the stakeholder group many times in this Chamber and in committees. The farming unions both said to me that there were no surprises in that document because they had been part of those discussions for over two years since we had the vote. You say that it's a lonely place. Believe me, I have worked very hard for the stakeholders to bring that document forward, and it is a consultation. I want to make that vey clear, and it's still open to 30 October, and I look forward to receiving people's views.
Llyr Gruffydd
AM: I'm not doubting when you
tell us that your policy is Welsh
Labour policy, but I'm telling you that it's
also UK Tory policy, which clearly is rather
uncomfortable for you and your
backbench Members, I'm sure. Now, as well as
removing the safety net that I have referred to for
Welsh farmers in these turbulent times of Brexit,
under your proposals, of course, funding will now
become—or is proposed to be—open to all land
managers, rather than applying just to active
farmers. Now this, of course, will
siphon investment away from farming families
when we know that every pound that's invested in a
farm generates £7 to the rural economy. We could
now see, under your proposals, banking
institutions, pension funds and other inactive
farmers—who make no contribution, frankly, to the
local economy or community—benefit from
Labour's proposals and the Tory UK proposals
as well. Now, Plaid Cymru believes that any new
system post Brexit must direct support to active
farmers, rather than rewarding land ownership in
itself. So, will you reconsider this proposal and
ensure that support to Welsh farming is targeted at
those active farmers, who are the ones who are
taking the financial risk associated with producing
our food?
Lesley Griffiths
AM: The Member seems very keen
to tie two together—the Welsh proposals and the UK
Government proposals. If you look really hard, you
will see that there are many differences—food
production, for a start. We've put food production
at the heart of the economic resilience scheme. I
absolutely want to keep active farmers on the land.
I've made that very clear. You ask whether I will
reconsider. It's out to consultation. We've already
had, I think, about 3,000 responses up to last
week. I'm very competitive. I want to see more
responses than DEFRA had, pro rata. So, I really
want to encourage people to put their views
forward. But, the whole point of this exercise is
to keep our farmers farming. We need them to do
that, and that's what will happen with our policy.
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