Single Payment Scheme

I, too, congratulate the hon. Member for Vale of York (Miss McIntosh) on securing this debate at such an appropriate time. For once, I can speak about agricultural matters without declaring an interest, because payments in Wales have already been made, so I am unaffected by the problem. However, it does not in any way lessen my concern for the farming community in England, which has been so badly served. Indeed, a series of mistakes has been made not only by DEFRA but by the Rural Payments Agency. The Minister may say that other countries have used other systems, but Ireland has paid 98 per cent. of its farmers. In historic terms, Austria has paid 100 per cent. of its farmers, Belgium has paid nearly 100 per cent. of its farmers and Sweden, which uses a hybrid system, has paid 90 per cent. of its farmers. Germany, which presumably uses a dynamic hybrid system similar to DEFRA's, paid 80 per cent. of its farmers by December, and Denmark has paid 98 per cent. of its farmers. I have not heard of riots in France, Spain or Italy. I do not have figures for those countries, but I assume that the farmers there have received the majority of their payments.