My Lords, no one can doubt the passion and enthusiasm of the Minister, and I suspect that he and the committee are far closer than the Government’s response would suggest. Indeed, I suspect it is the rest of government that we need to persuade.
I thank all members of the committee and all other noble Lords for their contributions to what has been a very encouraging debate, in the sense of supporting many of the things that we have said in our report. The disappointing thing is that the majority of Members of your Lordships’ House want to see a rural strategy, but the Government currently do not. Prorogation is about to be upon us. It is the ending of something, but it also heralds the beginning of something new: a new Queen’s Speech, a new Budget and possibly even a new Government. Let us hope this will bring about new thinking on the importance of having a comprehensive rural strategy, whatever Government we have. I thank all noble Lords for their contributions and I beg to move.