I would love to agree with the hon. Gentleman. I am not sure that the buses will ever be completely satisfactory in my constituency. We have a fairly sparsely populated group of people and more roads per capita than any other county. That means that getting a bus when one wants it to where one wants to go is extremely difficult. However, it has got a lot better since I was first elected. In order to get to Tenbury Wells, one took a bus on a Monday morning but could not get back until Thursday afternoon. Things have, believe it or not, got better
Another gripe I have is this vegetarian nonsense. I have absolutely had it up to here. Someone who really cares about the planet should eat grass-fed meat. There is no way that human beings can consume grass. It makes sense to turn the grass that grows across 60% of our country into protein, and the way to do that is to allow a sheep or cow to eat it and then consume the animal.
Of course I understand that these animals can produce methane from enteric digestion, but that methane is part of the cycle. The manure goes back into the soil and it is a natural cycle. Once someone starts to add fossil fuels through their tractor or their fertiliser, they totally alter the carbon footprint of the crops they are producing.
Therefore, having a plant-based diet is not going to save the planet. All those people nibbling away on soya beans grown on the burnt-out former forests of the Amazon are doing immense harm, not least in lurking outside here and making people stick in a traffic jam emitting carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, NOx’s and all sorts of other vile fumes—[Interruption]—especially the ones from Stroud, who are causing no end of trouble. Most of all, they are upsetting people like me who really care about climate change. I wrote a book about it. I have to tell the House that I slightly spoilt it by putting a picture of myself on the front, but that did not matter: it was a really important subject. Turning people away from doing the right thing, which is what these people and their vegetarianism are doing, is absolutely disastrous. We are leading the world, and to go out of
one’s way to beat up the world leader for something they are doing right strikes me as very poor politics indeed.
I welcome various other parts of the Queen’s Speech. The rule of law matters so much to my constituents. We have the lowest crime, I am happy to tell the House, but that does not mean that people do not feel frightened or nervous, or care about seeing police officers. Seeing more of those is a wonderful and important thing, so I welcome that. I agree that the punishment needs to fit the crime and that it is no good giving a long sentence and then the criminal who has been found guilty serving only half of it. Who are we trying to fool—the families of the victims? It is very important that we have honesty in our sentencing.
I welcome the hospital building, particularly in Hereford. I think I still have a photograph of me chasing Alan Milburn and trying to get more beds for Hereford County Hospital in 2001. Now, finally, those beds are about to arrive, as the wards built by the Canadian army in the second world war are finally dismantled and replaced with a 21st-century building. The same is true for the funding of our schools. I am sure that all colleagues have, like me, visited their local schools and heard the plea for more money. The bit that has always been incredibly difficult is to explain why, if someone lives in Westminster, their children receive twice as much money as the children of someone who lives in Ledbury. That cannot be right. Raising the funding from the bottom up will be welcome because it does not take from those who have higher needs, but it does lift the base. That is surely the best way to ensure that our children get the best possible start in life.
I shall close with the thought that these people who care about the climate, care about the future of our planet and want to do the right thing should be encouraged and not put off. They should start eating pasture-fed meat with the Pasture for Life logo on it so that they know they are not only saving the planet but bringing about the highest levels of animal welfare, which I know all our farmers, particularly those in Herefordshire, strive for, care about and deliver.
Ordered, That the debate be now adjourned.—(David Rutley.)
Debate to be resumed tomorrow.