Public Forest Estate (England)

Ian Murray Excerpts

Wednesday 2nd February 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mary Creagh]

Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker.

My hon. Friend’s point goes to the heart of the matter. The only legally enforceable rights are public access rights guaranteed under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. The introduction of further “higher rights” would require changes to primary legislation. [Interruption.] Who will enforce the leases in 150 years’ time? It is certain that none of us will be around to remember this debate at that time.

Who will benefit from the sales? The Confederation of Forest Industries’ website says that the price of commercial forests rose

“138% since 2002, which equates to a 17% average annual growth over the period”.

So the forests that the Tories sold off in the 1980s and ’90s have trebled or quadrupled in value. Where is the public benefit from those increased land values? There is none. Forestry land is exempt from inheritance tax after two years, and timber sales have no income tax or capital gains tax. When we sell our forests, the taxpayer loses many times over.

“Private companies buying 75-year rights to woodland would naturally seek to maximise returns from timber extraction”—

[Interruption.] The Minister should allow me to finish my quote before chuntering; I think that he is going to like it:

“There is no sign that the consequences for conservation, recreation and tourism have been properly weighed up in these plans. The Government is using ‘slash and burn’ tactics”.

Those are not my words; that was a press release from the current Chief Secretary to the Treasury in January 2009, when a similar plan was proposed by the Scottish Government. I do not see the right hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) in the Chamber today.

[Ian Murray (Edinburgh South) (Lab)]

I should like to draw my hon. Friend’s attention to a quote:

“Liberal Democrats believe that the SNP are in a real way threatening to destroy rural Scotland through this hugely flawed proposal and are prepared to sell off the family silver for what amounts to a very small, one off sum of money.”

Will she join me and the Liberal Democrats in their “Save our Forests!” campaign?

[Mary Creagh]

My hon. Friend makes an excellent point. For some reason, the photograph of the Chief Secretary to the Treasury with a “Save our Forests!” sign has disappeared from the Liberal Democrats’ website. If anyone can find it, please will they e-mail it to me?

--- Later in debate ---

[Ian Murray]

Will the Minister give way?

[Mr Paice]

No—I am not giving way anymore.

Finally, on jobs, I want to make this point. The Government believe that any commercial undertaking that leases parts of our forests for commercial purposes will want to increase commercial and economic activity. That is the best way to encourage job creation. People will not take forests on just to shut the gate—they would be unable to do so even if they wanted to—and leave it there; they will want to run that area as a commercial, job-creating business.

This debate was based on Opposition claims that range, frankly, from the spurious to the absurd. Not only do the Government not intend, as the Opposition motion suggests, to sell 100% of the forest estate; we could not do so, because we do not even own 58,000 hectares of it. The actual figures are in the document.

The Secretary of State and I have repeatedly stressed—