During First Minister's Questions today, Leader of the Welsh
Conservative MS challenged the First
Minister on Labour's updated Sustainable Farming Scheme. Mr.
Millar accused the Labour Government of turning its back on Welsh
farmers, after it emerged that food security is not mentioned
once in the latest Sustainable Farming Scheme (SFS) document.
Additionally, the core elements of the scheme remain largely
unchanged. The universal payments are the same as the existing
Basic Payment Scheme, meaning a real term cut for farmers and the
tree-planting requirement still leaves the door wide open for
Labour to introduce their deeply unpopular 10% tree cover target
on every farm.
Commenting, Leader of the Welsh Conservatives, MS said:
“This Labour Government does not give a hoot about food
security, the term doesn't appear once in the latest
Sustainable Farming Scheme document. Yet, the word ‘environment'
is mentioned 79 times, which tells you everything you need to
know about Labour's priorities.
“Under Labour's plans, Welsh farmers will be forced to
sacrifice an area half the size of the Vale of Glamorgan to tree
planting, while the UK Climate Change Committee recommends a 19%
cut in livestock numbers, something we reject
entirely.
“For every £1 invested in farming, £9 is returned to the
Welsh economy, yet Labour is freezing the £238m farming budget
with no uplift, which is a real terms cut. Labour is sacrificing
Welsh livelihoods and food security.”
ENDS
Notes to editors:
- A link to the exchange can be found here.
