Agriculture: CAP Direct Payments

Lord Willoughby de Broke Excerpts

Tuesday 27th July 2010 Lords Chamber

[Lord Redesdale]

My Lords, will the Minister consider—

[Lord Willoughby de Broke]

This side.

[Noble Lords]

Order!

[Lord Strathclyde]

My Lords, let us hear from the noble Lord, Lord Willoughby de Broke, and then from my noble friend.

[Lord Willoughby de Broke]

I am most grateful. Will the Minister reassure the noble Lord, Lord Livsey, and indeed the noble Lord, Lord Tomlinson, that successive French Governments have stated repeatedly that there will be no change whatsoever to single farm payments after 2013? Will he also therefore reassure the British taxpayer that they will continue to pay for French farming for the foreseeable future?

[Lord De Mauley]

My Lords, the noble Lord is a noted cynic on this subject. I assure him that the British Government will be negotiating hard at EU level for a reform to the CAP.