Glue Traps (Offences) Bill

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

2nd reading
Friday 25th March 2022 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con)]

My Lords, it is always a great pleasure to follow my noble friend Lord Randall—particularly when he is so brief. It is also a great pleasure to follow my noble friend Lady Fookes, who is well known for her commitment to animal welfare and who set out the case with admirable clarity for why this measure is needed.

Obviously, I speak in favour of this Bill. I also pay tribute to Jane Stevenson in the other place for the work she has done on it and thank the Government and the Minister for facilitating this very sensible and positive measure. It deals with unspeakable and unnecessary cruelty to primarily rodents, as we have heard, but it also applies to hedgehogs, robins, birds, pets—to all animals that are caught in these dreadful traps and then die of hunger, dehydration, exposure and suffocation, often clawing through their own limbs to get free.

The RSPCA has done considerable work in this area, and also deserves praise. Although this is not the primary reason for the legislation, it is worth saying that these traps can pose a considerable danger to human health, because the animals defecate and urinate once they are caught. It is also worth saying that public opinion, unsurprisingly, is very strongly in favour of legislation in this area. We should not lose sight of that.

We have heard about the experience of New Zealand; Ireland has acted in a similar way. I am not sure whether Ireland has the exceptional circumstances exemption that New Zealand has, but there is no evidence of a particular hazard from rodents—from pests—because of their acting in the way we are looking at here. Can the Minister tell us whether Ireland has a similar exceptional circumstances exemption to New Zealand’s, and as is proposed here? I can see the case that has been made by my noble friend for such an exemption, but it must be as narrowly drawn as it is because of the cruelty involved. May I also ask the Minister about the devolved Administrations? I gather that Scotland and Wales are progressing similar legislation, but I am not sure whether that is true of Northern Ireland. It would be strange if they were the only authority within the UK and Ireland that is not acting, and it would be good to hear about that.

Upon going online, it is obvious that it is very easy to purchase these things through Amazon, for example. Enter “glue traps” and up pops a plethora of places where you can order them. If we legislate as is proposed here—and I hope we do—outlets that offer these things would, I think, be caught and it would be illegal to do so unless they are offered expressly to those with a licence, proof of which would be required. The Minister may wish to comment on this. I appreciate that he might not want to be too specific about the legislative position, but it seems to me that these people are aiding and abetting the commission of an offence if they are offering these things for sale to members of the public, even if they are operating outside the jurisdiction. If they are sending these things to people in the UK, it seems to me that they are knowingly causing or permitting an offence to be committed, but it would be good to have that confirmed, if possible.

Like my noble friend Lady Fookes, I think two years is far too long to wait; we should be able to act much more quickly than that. I cannot see why it should take so long, but that said, we clearly need to have publicity and education about the measure, particularly on the impact on people who are offering glue traps for sale. What is going to be done in that regard?

That said, this is an extremely sensible measure. I am sure it will be evident that there is widespread support within the House for it, just as there is among the public. It would be really good if we could progress it very quickly. I strongly support of the Bill.

National Food Strategy Independent Review

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Tuesday 20th July 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con) [V]]

My Lords, the national food strategy is clearly important and timely. It should help us as a country combat carbon emissions and deal with the obesity crisis, so graphically underlined by the pandemic. Like others, I encourage the Minister to bear in mind the great success of the soft drinks industry with the 28% reduction of sugar, inducing change in producer behaviour. I also ask my noble friend to ensure that there is concerted action in this important area across the devolved Administrations.

[Lord Benyon (Con)]

My Lords, Henry Dimbleby’s report was focused on England, but he worked very closely with the devolved Administrations as well. Our food network and supply chains are interwoven, as they are with the European Union and beyond, so we absolutely will.

Rural Landlords and Land Letting: Reform

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Thursday 21st January 2021 Grand Committee

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con) [V]]

My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Berkeley of Knighton, and to hear his interesting points. I also thank my noble friend Lady Rock for introducing this debate and setting out the important case for acting to help tenanted farms.

I want to express some concern about 1986 Act tenancies—that is, those granted before 1 September 1995 and hence still governed by the Agricultural Holdings Act 1986. About one-third of agricultural land is let. I am not sure what percentage is actually subject to the 1986 Act, and I hope that my noble friend the Minister, who is so adept in these areas, will be able to give that figure and also, perhaps, the number of farms in the country that we are talking about. But if he does not have that to hand—and I appreciate that these are relatively detailed points—perhaps he could write afterwards.

There often exists a problem with regard to succession rights for tenants under the 1986 Act. How can older tenants, with no immediate successor to whom they can transfer a tenancy, be encouraged to retire? I know that the Government considered extending succession rights to nieces, nephews and grandchildren but did not take up that proposal. Could my noble friend relook at that with the Government, because it seems a perfectly sensible proposal? I raise that point as there are limited options available to hand over to a new tenant when there are no immediate obvious successors.

I welcome much of what was done in the Agriculture Act 2020. However, as my noble friend Lady Rock pointed out, there are now problems with rather short leases. What are we doing to encourage landlords to let for longer periods? That is the only other issue that I wish to raise.

Organic Products (Production and Control) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2020

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Tuesday 10th November 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for that clear exposition of the regulations. Like him, I feel we are privileged today to have the maiden speech of my noble friend Lord Mendoza. I look forward to hearing it shortly, as I am sure all noble Lords do.

I support these regulations. Clearly, the regulation of organic products and genetically modified organisms is a vital concern for our country—indeed, for all parts of our country, as these are devolved matters. I realise that the primary purpose of these regulations is to provide for the laws governing these areas to operate in accordance with the Northern Ireland protocol after the end of the transition period. In many areas, we are providing similarly. Just recently, we provided similarly for organs for transplant and blood products, where Northern Ireland is to be treated as a member state, with Great Britain as a third party.

That is consistent with the withdrawal agreement signed by the United Kingdom and is topical in your Lordships’ House in the light of the votes last night. I wonder if my noble friend can comment on whether those votes will result in Great Britain being treated as a third party, for customs purposes, and Northern Ireland being treated as a continuing member state, in accordance with the withdrawal agreement. I feel sure that my noble friend will modestly say that that is above his pay grade, but also that he will have some insights in this area.

More specifically, I ask my noble friend to comment on the production, processing, labelling and importing of organic products and our inspection systems. I note what he said about there being no immediate intention to diverge from the European rules and standards, and my noble friend touched on these matters during discussions on the Agriculture Bill. But I wonder, looking forward, whether there is any intention to diverge from EU standards and rules, other than de minimis. Similarly, I wonder whether we are intending to diverge from EU rules and standards, in any way other than de minimis, on controls for the production, movement, traceability, labelling and marketing of GMOs. With those specific questions, I am content to give these regulations my total support. They make a lot of sense.

Direct Payments Ceilings Regulations 2020

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Wednesday 1st July 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con) [V]]

My Lords, I thank my noble friend the Minister for the clarity with which he set out the regulations, which are technical and relate to agricultural spending. They look back to a division of funds that occurred in 2013 in relation to EU spending and they look forward in terms of the consequence of the excellent Bew review and the Government’s response to it.

I support the regulations and agree with the split of money put forward by the Bew review and the additional spending recommended by it and taken forward. The regulations also carry on the tradition of the division between Pillar 1 and Pillar 2 payments—the split—as my noble friend mentioned. Of course, devolved Administrations will have their own separate schemes.

I wonder whether I might push my noble friend a little on how collaboration with the four nations of the UK is evolving in terms of both policies and structures. Can he also provide a little more information on how that structure will deal with wrinkles on matters such as competitive practices? Will the process that we have for this year carry on each year throughout the transitional period, mutatis mutandis, and be something that we can therefore look forward to on a regular, annual basis?

That the caps set for the different nations of the UK—England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland—are variable is a feature of devolution and is to be welcomed, but was any thought given to having a lower cap for England and moving money to Pillar 2, to agricultural and rural schemes, rather than direct payments being made to farmers? I note that the direct payments system is to be continued for some time, but what thought was given to moving some of that money across into what was Pillar 2?

As I have said, I strongly support the regulations. I appreciate that there is some relationship between what we are doing today and the thinking behind ELMS. As my noble friend Lord Shrewsbury said, that is for another day, but it would be good to hear some of the thinking behind the standstill position as regards England on the split between Pillar 1 and Pillar 2.

Direct Payments to Farmers (Crop Diversification Derogation) (England) Regulations 2020

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth Excerpts

Tuesday 2nd June 2020 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth (Con)]

My Lords, I first thank the Minister for setting out so clearly the regulations, and join others in thanking our farmers, who, through this dreadful crisis, continue to ensure that British food ends up on British plates; they really deserve our praise.

My noble friend the Minister quite rightly said that these are England-only regulations. However, I am keen to pursue the fact that, clearly, the devolved Administrations have introduced similar regulations, as my noble friend said. I seek some reassurance that, given the nature of the challenges that we face with these regulations, and more broadly, we are engaging throughout all this in discussions and collaboration with the devolved Administrations. Clearly, concerted action is so much more helpful and productive at these times. I push the Minister on that point.

I want also to ask a question on the consultation, which is referred to in the draft memorandum at paragraph 10. It is welcome that there has been consultation, but there is reference here, in a rather folksy way, to a “rapid, oral consultation” in addition to consultation with bodies such as the NFU, which the Minister referenced. I trust that “rapid, oral consultation” will not generally be pursued; as I said, it sounds somewhat folksy. Perhaps the Minister will indicate who was consulted in this way and how he will proceed generally to pursue consultation in similar circumstances.

These regulations are welcome, given the challenges that we face, and certainly I will give them my backing.