My Lords, it is a pleasure to speak to this group of amendments and this is another excellent opportunity to thank our farmers and front-line food producers for everything they do every day, not least during the Covid crisis. We owe them an enduring debt of gratitude. Through the correct deployment of this Bill, we have the means to swiftly repay the debt for the service they have given their local communities and the nation.
I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Krebs, and all other noble Lords who served on the Select Committee, which produced a report with the excellent title Hungry for Change. Has my noble friend the Minister had a chance to reflect on the report and digest some of the recommendations set out therein?
It is a pleasure to hear the noble Lord, Lord Rooker, back in the Chamber, I grew up just down the road from the constituency that he served for many years. I learned a lot and always enjoyed listening to him when he was regularly on “Midlands Today”. I take his point about the use of agricultural land for non-agricultural purposes. I gently guide him towards Amendment 235, which is in my name and due to be debated on Thursday —for that, read “probably Thursday week”. I would be delighted if he would see his way to supporting that amendment, as it very much speaks to what he covered.
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Similarly, I guide my noble friend Lord Naseby, who spoke about using energy as an effective means of spark-priming our under-glass production, to my Amendment 61; it was debated last week but will be brought back on Report for sure.
I support a number of the amendments in this group, not least Amendments 60 and 69 in the name of my noble friend Lord Northbrook and Amendment 70, to which my noble friend Lord Caithness has added him name. We need to give strong consideration to the issue of food security. The Covid crisis has not changed the situation that we are in; it has merely shone the starkest and sharpest of spotlights on the predicament not that we have found ourselves in but that we have allowed ourselves to come to.
I also strongly support the speech of my noble friend Lord Inglewood, who spoke with wisdom, experience and expertise. I support, too, the words of the noble Earl, Lord Devon. We have some of the greatest herds in the world and their carbon hoofprint is perfectly in order. It is another great gem in our agricultural crown and should be celebrated rather than being pushed away in some shameful shed. Food is essential to everything that we do. It is our energy and, without it, we have nothing on which to run. I look forward to the Minister’s comments in response to these amendments.
I turn to the comments of a number of noble Lords about how technology can assist. Technology can enable us to produce food in the quantity, and of the quality, that we need. Has the Minister had the opportunity to look at a report that I produced in 2017: Distributed Ledger Technologies for Public Good? It covered the whole question of how technology can assist and revolutionise things in a positive way. Human-led technology has already brought about excellence in our food production.
Finally, I found the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Trees, fascinating. It perhaps leaves us with many things to think about, not least the perfect title for an autobiography or maybe a late Alan Bennett play: “The Degradation of Cowpats”.