Livestock Industry (Climate Change)

First and foremost, may I say how delighted I am to see you in the Chair this afternoon, Mr. Benton? Not only is it always a pleasure to see you in the Chair; it is a pleasure to be reassured about the robust state of your health. It is good to see you here. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, East (Kerry McCarthy) on securing this debate in the momentary and wonderful lull in the terrible noise from that person across the road. I put it on the record that I regret that I could not properly follow the debate on asbestos led by the hon. Member for Rochdale (Paul Rowen) and the Under-Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth, North (Sarah McCarthy-Fry), because of the intrusive nature of the noise. I hope that the House authorities look again at seeing what could be done, particularly in respect of debates in this Chamber because we are much closer to it. People have the right to protest, but we should be able to carry on our business properly. My hon. Friend the Member for Bristol, East rightly said at the outset that she was a vegan but that that was not the primary reason for calling this debate. It is an important debate in its own right. She has put on the record that she is a vegan, and I respect her views on food, but I have to say that I am not. I suspect that my mum was probably introducing me to meat as a food even before I can remember: she probably fed me home-made shepherd's pie as she was weaning me. All I can say is that I have stuck with it. Traditionally, here in the UK meat is an important source of protein, iron, calcium, zinc and other vitamins and minerals. I have a lot of sympathy with those who say that there is no such thing as bad food, that it is the diet that we get wrong and that we need a balanced diet and must exercise greater portion control. Delia Smith was arguing for that just the other day and I think that she is right. My hon. Friend quoted an American who said that, in order to help deal with climate change, it would be better to become vegetarian or vegan than to change from a high-performance car to a hybrid car. I had better get it on the record and say that I am not going to do that either, I am afraid. Having blotted my copybook quite seriously from the outset—