Oral Answers to Questions

Angela Eagle Excerpts

Thursday 13th November 2025 Commons Chamber

[Adrian Ramsay (Waveney Valley) (Green)]

3. What her planned timeline is for moving away from the use of farrowing crates and cages in farming.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

We remain firmly committed to maintaining and improving animal welfare, and will work closely with the farming sector to deliver high standards. The use of cages and other close confinement systems for farmed animals is an issue we are currently considering and, as was announced by the Prime Minister, we plan to publish the animal welfare strategy by the end of this year.

[Adrian Ramsay]

I thank the Minister for her answer. Animal Equality estimates that around 200,000 sows in the UK spend nearly a quarter of their adult life confined in farrowing crates, which are metal barred cages that severely restrict their movement—they cannot even turn around. Some 75% of vets are concerned and research suggests that two thirds of the public oppose their use. When it comes to the animal welfare strategy, will the Minister commit to phasing out the use of all farrowing crates and the equally cruel cages for birds, and what practical steps will be put in place to support farmers with the transition?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

It is important to remember that 50% of the national sow breeding herd live freely and are not kept in these kinds of cage systems at all, which I think shows the way forward. It is very important that we work with the industry to see how we can move away from the use of farrowing crates and create more flexible alternatives that are available to be introduced in a practical and pragmatic way.

[Terry Jermy (South West Norfolk) (Lab)]

So often, farmers are the best conservationists. Many want to do even more to support the environment and animal welfare, but profitability and sustainability are key. Will the Minister confirm whether the Department will consider financial support for farmers to move towards more sustainable and strong animal welfare standards?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

We are always ready to consider how we can bring about the policies that will be set out in the animal welfare strategy when we publish it. We are pragmatic about how we can shift from outdated systems and modernise, and we are proud that we have some of the highest standards of animal welfare in the world.

[Catherine Atkinson (Derby North) (Lab)]

4. What steps she has taken to help tackle littering.

--- Later in debate ---

[James Wild (North West Norfolk) (Con)]

7. Whether she has made an assessment of the potential impact of solar farms on food security.

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

Only 0.1% of land is used for solar, and half of the agricultural land used for generating solar power is still producing food. Solar farms are not a risk to food security. Instead, they play an important role in diversifying farm income and decarbonising our economy.

[James Wild]

I think the Minister’s answer was a bit tone-deaf. North West Norfolk’s farms and farmers play a vital role in our food security. My constituents are concerned about the Droves and High Grove solar farms, which will cover 7,000 acres. Why are the Government, and the Net Zero Secretary in particular, obsessed with putting solar farms on Norfolk’s agricultural land rather than on brownfield land and rooftops?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

A very small area of land is used by solar farms—as I said before, it is 0.1% of the UK’s total land area. The clean power commitment 2030 will take that up to 0.4%. Our land use framework, which will deal with ensuring that solar farms do not go on prime agricultural land, is due to be published in the early part of next year.

[Mr Speaker]

I call the shadow Minister.

[Dr Neil Hudson (Epping Forest) (Con)]

Food security is national security, and we are in the middle of a food and farming emergency created by this Labour Government’s policies. From their heartless family farm tax to the closure of vital support schemes, they are damaging farming’s ability to thrive and harming rural mental health. That is only being made worse nationwide, including in my constituency of Epping Forest, by plans for excessive solar development that risk prime food-producing land being taken away. When will the Government stop this senseless assault on our green belt and countryside, and start putting solar in the right places, such as on brownfield sites and rooftops? When will they start to reverse these damaging policies so that our fantastic farming sector has a fighting chance of being preserved for future generations?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

It sounds as though the shadow Minister thinks that the entirety of agricultural land will be covered in solar. I have already said that it will be 0.4% by 2030, and it provides farmers with extra income. We have a national planning policy framework that prioritises using lower-quality land for such things. He says that he wants solar power on rooftops—well, we are doing that too.

[Liam Conlon (Beckenham and Penge) (Lab)]

9. What steps she is taking to improve biodiversity.

--- Later in debate ---

[Tim Farron (Westmorland and Lonsdale) (LD)]

I, too, welcome the Secretary of State, and the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs, the hon. Member for Wallasey (Dame Angela Eagle), to their roles. I look forward to working with them both.

Research from the University of Cumbria shows that, by this time next year, the average hill farmer will earn barely half the national minimum wage, yet the Government’s family farm tax means an annual tax bill of £20,000 a year for the typical hill farm. Those farmers will have to stop farming and sell up. To whom? To wealthy landowners and big city corporations. Is this policy not deeply socially unjust, robbing from the poor and giving to the rich, while betraying the people who care for our landscape and provide food for us?

[The Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs (Dame Angela Eagle)]

We will publish the farming road map and the Batters review, and then talk about a strategy for making farming more productive, profitable and sustainable for the next generation. Upland farmers will play an important part in that review, and we will see what we can do to support them.

--- Later in debate ---

[Rachel Gilmour (Tiverton and Minehead) (LD)]

T2. Under the previous Government, farms were encouraged to diversify to secure their incomes and support rural communities. In the light of this Government’s reforms to agricultural property relief and business property relief, many family farms that diversified now face what feels like double taxation—once during business life, and once on succession. Ahead of the Budget, will the Minister urgently press Treasury colleagues to reverse those reforms?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

Again, we understand the pressures that farmers are under. We want to work on creating a productive, profitable and sustainable farming sector, and we will do so.

[Sonia Kumar (Dudley) (Lab)]

T8. What support can the Minister offer the Dudley Canal and Tunnel Trust, which seeks to open up canal access to the hidden gem at Wren’s Nest, which is part of the UNESCO geopark? That would help boost sustainable tourism, give access to residents, and highlight the site’s international geological significance.

--- Later in debate ---

[Shaun Davies (Telford) (Lab)]

Given the Government’s focus on strengthening skills in the agritech food sector, will the Secretary of State join me in visiting Harper Adams University’s new Telford facility at the Quad to see how the industry and higher and further education facilities, including Telford College, are working together to develop and diversify the skills pipeline in the sector?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

We are fully supportive of collaboration between industry and higher and further education to strengthen skills in the agrifood sector. I will be visiting Harper Adams; that visit is already in the diary, and if my hon. Friend wants to join me, he is more than welcome.

[Luke Taylor (Sutton and Cheam) (LD)]

T6. What enforcement action is the Environment Agency taking against Viridor, the operator of the Beddington energy recovery facility, due to 18 months of exceedances of daily limits of NOx? Can the Minister also confirm that the permit increase request for the ERF will finally be refused?

--- Later in debate ---

[Sir Desmond Swayne (New Forest West) (Con)]

T7. Why has capital investment in agriculture collapsed? It is the family farm tax, isn’t it?

[Dame Angela Eagle]

No, it is not the family farm tax. The right hon. Gentleman should be patient and wait to see our plan for the future of farming.

The Solicitor General was asked—