Queen’s Speech

Baroness McIntosh of Pickering Excerpts

Monday 16th May 2022 Lords Chamber

[Baroness McIntosh of Pickering (Con)]

My Lords, I congratulate the right reverend Prelate on an excellent maiden speech. I spent five happy years as the Member of the European Parliament for Essex North and Suffolk South, and I hope we can work together on rural issues, not least the threat of closures of rural churches at this time.

It is indeed a special occasion to contribute to the humble Address in Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee year. I will focus on the rural economy, food, farming and the role of market towns. Rural dwellers rely on access to schools, hospitals and affordable homes, with good connectivity for broadband, wi-fi and mobile phones, all of which can be immensely challenging, so anything to grow and strengthen the rural economy would be very welcome indeed.

Farming lies at the heart of the rural economy. As direct payments are phased out, there will inevitably be hardship, especially for tenant farmers who may not be able to claim under the new schemes. The gracious Speech said that

“Ministers will encourage agricultural and scientific innovation at home.”

I hope this will benefit hill farmers, small family farms and, most especially, tenant farmers.

There is effectively a ban on the export of animals at the moment. I understand that it is impossible to export farm animals, even for breeding purposes, as there are simply no facilities to receive and process them at any continental port. If that is indeed the case, will my noble friend investigate and see whether the trade in farm animals for breeding purposes can resume as soon as practically possible?

The Government are to continue to champion international trade, and I wish them extremely well in that endeavour. However, I am hesitant about the Government renegotiating the commitments freely entered into in the Northern Ireland protocol which were key to securing the trade and co-operation agreement with the European Union. Will my noble friend today give a commitment that in any negotiations for new trade deals the highest possible standards of animal health and welfare will be sought for imported products, the same as for domestic production?

There is a severe need for warm, safe and affordable homes. I refer to my interests in the register. I am president of National Energy Action, and I applaud its campaign for everyone to have a safe and warm home. I am also a member of the Church of England’s rural affairs group. It is essential that the Government endeavour to insulate better, make homes more energy efficient and ensure that homes and businesses are more resilient to floods. The energy security Bill will provide an opportunity to do so. There are many people currently living in food poverty, fuel poverty and water poverty, particularly due to the spike in global wholesale prices, compounded by limited gas storage of up to only 60 days in the UK, which seems to be uniquely low among European countries. That is aggravated by the war in Ukraine impacting on fuel and food prices as well as on the supply chain for food and animal feed.

The energy security Bill should also look at the structure of the energy market, where I understand that consumers have paid £2.6 billion for the cost of failure of energy companies in the past year alone. With the green levy adding 20% to electricity and gas bills and the ever-increasing rise in the price cap, which I understand could go up to £2,800 by October this year, with a further increase in January, this is simply not sustainable. Wind farms onshore and offshore will obviously form part of our renewable energy supply, but they rely on pylons and overhead line transmission. Not only are they ugly and intrusive, but they lose 30% of their energy in transmission, so they are extremely wasteful too. We need to do much more work on offshore wind farms, which can be immensely damaging to wildlife at sea, to establish the impact on sea mammals.

Those living in the countryside will welcome the commitment in the gracious Speech that the planning system will be reformed to give residents more involvement in local development. Undergrounding overhead wires and heat and electricity generators producing energy from waste will lead to a better understanding and a warmer local welcome for such facilities, as has been seen in many European countries. Can my noble friend say what has happened to the millions raised by the unexpected windfall from VAT on fuel, which others have mentioned? We look forward to another busy year.