Oral Answers to Questions

Patrick Hurley Excerpts

Thursday 22nd October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Dame Angela Eagle]

The right hon. Lady has some brass neck to stand up and say that. When she was in the Treasury, food inflation was at 19.1%. We know that some of the pressures on energy and power, which are in turn putting such pressure on everybody, across all aspects of our economy, are due to global instabilities and what is happening in the middle east. I met Cheerful Charlie, and he is a reasonable man. By the way, I did not stand him up three times; there were some holds in the diary that they put in. I spend my time listening to farming communities, and I will not take any lessons from the right hon. Lady.

[Patrick Hurley (Southport) (Lab)]

T4. Flooding has caused damage to farmland in my constituency this year, affecting crop yields and threatening food security. The National Farmers’ Union understands that the statutory instrument needed to establish a new internal drainage board will come before the House by the end of this year. Can the Minister confirm a timetable for that and commit to getting this issue resolved?

[The Minister of State, Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

My hon. Friend raises an important point. We intend to lay the statutory instrument before Parliament by the end of this year, subject to availability of parliamentary time.