Direct Payments to Farmers (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2023 Debate

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Department: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

Direct Payments to Farmers (Reductions) (England) Regulations 2023

Lord Lucas Excerpts
Tuesday 28th March 2023

(1 year, 1 month ago)

Lords Chamber
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The amendments would have the opposite effect of that intended: they would accelerate the loss of small family farmers and the consolidation of their land into larger units. I believe that the Government’s policies enable our farming industry to lead the world in the transition to the future of land use, and I hope that the amendments are defeated.
Lord Lucas Portrait Lord Lucas (Con)
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My Lords, I have two short questions for my noble friend the Minister. First, will he really support what my noble friend Lord Caithness said and up the hand-holding? When I decided, 50 years ago, not to go into farming but to go into the City, I chose the less intellectually challenging option. Secondly, does he share my astonishment at how paper-thin the Liberal Democrats’ commitment to the environment is?