Debate on the Address

My Lords, it is a pleasure to be the first to congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Bruce-Lockhart, on his outstanding maiden speech. He comes to the House with a famous name and was of course a well-known figure in his own right before arriving here. He has a most distinguished record, particularly in local government. From his thoughtful speech it was clear why he advanced so quickly, first to the leadership of the Conservative group in Kent County Council, next to the leadership of the council itself, and then, a couple of years ago, to the pinnacle of local government, the chairmanship of the Local Government Association. He will add immensely to our debates; not only those on local government, but also on many other subjects. I look forward to hearing him speak, for example, on ““The Third Way””. I also take the opportunity to congratulate my noble friend Lady Jones of Whitchurch, whom I have had the pleasure of knowing for a long time, on her maiden speech and to say how much I am looking forward to the other two maiden speeches later today. I know there is no anxiety so great as anticipating one’s own maiden speech, but I hope all those making one today will forgive me when I claim that mine is a semi-maiden speech too. This is the first time I have spoken in the House since my defenestration in May, and thus the first time I have spoken from the Back Benches in more than seven years. That seems a long time ago. I take this opportunity to thank the many Members on all sides of the House, and many in the other place as well, for their individual acts of support and kindness. I shall speak briefly on agriculture and the farming community. I am deliberately not intending to speak today about the single payment issue, as two important Select Committees in the other place, before one of which recently I gave evidence, are close to finalising their important reports. All I will say today is that it should not be forgotten that all three major political parties supported the Government's decision to go for the hybrid scheme which was chosen for England—although, frankly, any observer who has listened to what has been said over the past few months might be forgiven for not appreciating that fact. I look forward to saying more in the House on this topic at a later date. Before moving to agriculture, I should like to say a quick word on local government. I, too, welcome the recent White Paper and congratulate my noble friend’s department on its positive and progressive agenda. I have one word of caution. I remember well the disastrous Local Government Act 1972, which forced great and proud self-governing cities such as my own, Leicester, to lose very many of their powers to the shire counties, whose inability to deal with urban issues was in some cases spectacular. The Conservatives themselves eventually righted this wrong some quarter of a century later and should be congratulated on having done so. If there must be larger districts and more unitary authorities—and I see the arguments for them—they should not be at the expense of these cities. On agriculture, it is obvious that farmers and their families have been subject to the winds of change for a considerable time now. Change is never easy, and personally I admire hugely the manner in which so many farmers have adapted to their new world whether it has been by diversifying or changing their practices or in one of many other ways. Life is still difficult but I passionately believe that there are signs of real progress. The Fresh Start initiative is just one of many initiatives that encourage new entrants and help to establish farmers. When I was in post I was very impressed—perhaps most impressed—by the English Farming and Food Partnership, which did great things in persuading farmers to try new methods, particularly to join together in partnerships for their mutual advantage. The whole sustainable farming and food agenda, superbly brought together by Sir Don Curry, to whom we all owe an enormous debt of gratitude, is, I believe, the only way forward for British agriculture. The beef industry, which was in a bad way, has, I believe, had a shot in the arm. I called two summits together when I was in post and found a little extra money for the industry. That, along with the end of the beef export ban, are among my proudest memories, even though the ending of the ban ironically coincided almost to the day with my leaving office. I believe that 1,000 tonnes per week are currently being exported, which is almost up to the pre-1996 export level. That is a huge compliment to the industry. The leadership of the Meat and Livestock Commission under Peter Barr has been nothing short of inspirational, as have been the efforts on behalf of the pig and lamb industry by Stewart Houston, John Cross and many others. The changes to the levy boards are well overdue, as is the emphasis on biomass and biofuels. All the farming unions enjoy good progressive leadership—in the case of the NFU, under both its former and its current presidents. So, all in all, there is much more positive news than is commonly acknowledged. If I have a criticism of the Front Bench of the main opposition party in both Houses, it is that I believe it is about time that it stopped being merely oppositionist and did something to boost the industry's confidence. To listen to the shadow farming Minister in another place, Mr Paice, farmers could be forgiven for thinking that British agriculture was on its last legs. Fortunately, many other Conservatives in both Houses have a better understanding of farmers and their families and refuse to play politics in such a sensitive area and at such a sensitive time. I should like to commend the way in which my noble friend Lord Rooker and his colleagues are taking forward a positive farming agenda. I want to make just one final point. From my experience as Sustainable Farming and Food Minister, I became convinced of one thing. History will say that one of the most serious mistakes made by UK Governments of all colours in the second half of the last century was to allow the post-war subsidy system—that is, the payment of subsidy based almost wholly on production—to continue for so long. In the immediate post-war period such a system was defensible, and it may be fairly said that our entry into the EEC was conditional on supporting the subsidy system. However, that was in the early 1970s. What excuse can there be for the Government who were in power between 1979 and 1997 not seriously tackling our EU partners on this question of reform? Why did they, with their sceptical stance to most things European, so adamantly support the status quo on production subsidies? The answer, I am afraid, is to do with politics. The consequences—and that is what matters—of the gross failure to replace an outdated and wasteful system are still being felt by farmers and the farming community today. By not grasping this issue and by shying away from it, by concentrating on fundamental reforms often cruel in their effect elsewhere in industry and by conveniently forgetting this vital reform, they were guilty of double standards and neglect. So this Government have had to do what their predecessor failed even to attempt. They have fought for reform in Europe and have succeeded in moving UK farming from a system submerged in an outdated culture of production subsidies to a new and modern approach in which farmers look to their markets and are encouraged to be entrepreneurial. Of course the change has not been easy. The fact that it has been postponed for so long makes it all the more difficult. However, I am convinced that there is a real future for farming now and that, at long last, a UK Government have had the strength and guts to take this reform on. I end by commending the gracious Speech both in the subjects that we are debating today and in the other subjects that we will be debating in the next week or so. I believe that this Government have changed our country hugely for the better. I am proud of their record and particularly proud of having been allowed to serve as a member of the Government, albeit in a modest capacity, for a number of years.