Extract from Business
Questions
(Chesham and Amersham) (Con)
[V]: I am privileged to be the honorary president of the
Buckinghamshire Campaign to Protect Rural
Englandand its latest report, which is called “Greener,
better, faster”, makes great reading. It sets out how the
countryside itself can provide many of the solutions to tackling
climate breakdown. Can the Leader of the House encourage his
colleagues to hold a debate on this report in Government time to
give us the opportunity to highlight further the ways in which we
can support the transformational change needed across society to
reach net zero emissions and at the same time preserving our
landscapes, habitats and the wildlife living in them? I understand
that Ministers have responded positively to the recommendations,
and such a debate would enable them to put on record their support
for the CPRE’s sterling work, which benefits us all.
Mr Rees-Mogg: I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for her
question. I have not yet read the report that she refers to, but
I hope she will agree that the Government want to ensure that our
economic recovery is sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Many of the measures announced by the Chancellor yesterday will
ensure that that is the case. We are already championing
innovative and eco-friendly technologies, and our ambitious
Environment, Fisheries and Agriculture Bills will enable us to
protect our precious natural environment and diverse ecosystems
for years to come, in line with the legal commitment for a net
zero economy by 2050. Along with my right hon. Friend, I and many
others representing rural constituencies want to see the
country’s rural economy coming firmly back to life in the next
few months. Our countryside is far more than an attraction to
preserve in aspic; it is made by the millions of people who live
and work there, and I believe the Government must do all they can
to support rural lives and livelihoods throughout this recovery.
Extract from Committee stage (LOrds) of the Agriculture
Bill
(GP)
[V]:...I come to Amendments 43 and 54 and pay tribute to work of
the Landworkers’ Alliance, Sustain and the Campaign to Protect Rural
England which all had input into
them. They highlight how local food systems deliver benefits on a
scale from the local to the global, but have suffered from
decades of underinvestment. Many of the people involved in
them—the producers, processors, retailers and caterers—are small
and have limited management and financial capabilities for
collaboration and sector development, although I note that other
elements of the Bill seek to encourage that. It is something we
want to see the Government support across the board...
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