Farming Road Map and Profitability Review Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Ashley Fox
Main Page: Ashley Fox (Conservative - Bridgwater)Department Debates - View all Ashley Fox's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Farming Road Map and Profitability Review
Ashley Fox Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
Commons ChamberRead Full debate Read Hansard Text Watch Debate Read Debate Ministerial Extracts
Emma Reynolds
The farming road map is a plan for the whole of England. Obviously, each different sector of farming faces different challenges. I was glad to visit a dairy farm in my own constituency on Open Farm day—Lacey’s farm. I thank Will Lacey for showing me and my two young boys around. The road map is about helping farmers across England, including in the south-west.
Sir Ashley Fox (Bridgwater) (Con)
While I welcome the farming road map, farmers in Somerset will be sceptical that this Government will deliver for them given their imposition of the family farm and family business taxes, which have undermined confidence and reduced investment in the rural economy. The Government closed the last SFI without notice, causing chaos for farmers. Will the Secretary of State undertake now not to do that again?
Emma Reynolds
I thank the hon. Member for welcoming the road map. We have certainly learned a lot of lessons from what happened last summer, and I would absolutely like to see no sudden stops to the system. We are learning the lessons, but also with the capital grants programme, we ensured that there were not the same issues. I cannot always predict the future, but I would like that to be the case.