I have not seen any information from the Government. I do not blame them, because they cannot guess. How could they? There is a range of figures that go all over the place. I am interested in sorting these things out once and for all. Whether we get the changes...
I have not seen any information from the Government. I do not blame them, because they cannot guess. How could they? There is a range of figures that go all over the place. I am interested in sorting these things out once and for all. Whether we get the changes...
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the issue is not only the misery of farmers and the impact on their livelihoods and families? There is also
the misery of other sentient beings—cattle. Some 35,000 cattle are destroyed every year, more than half of which are dairy cows. I do...
Does my right hon. Friend agree that the issue is not only the misery of farmers and the impact on their livelihoods and families? There is also
the misery of other sentient beings—cattle. Some 35,000 cattle are destroyed every year, more than half of which are dairy cows. I do...
May I start by asking the Secretary of State a very simple question: does he accept that the sum total of everything he said in his statement today, which includes spending £600 million of taxpayers’ money and weakening the obligation on energy companies to deliver energy efficiency, is that the...
May I start by asking the Secretary of State a very simple question: does he accept that the sum total of everything he said in his statement today, which includes spending £600 million of taxpayers’ money and weakening the obligation on energy companies to deliver energy efficiency, is that the...
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, for his very courageous speech. I listened with great care and I think we all learnt from it. I should declare an interest as the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which undertook some work on the disproportionate use...
My Lords, I thank the noble Lord, Lord Paddick, for his very courageous speech. I listened with great care and I think we all learnt from it. I should declare an interest as the chair of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, which undertook some work on the disproportionate use...
I do not think that we should run away with the idea of codes of conduct because, if you look back over the past 10 or 20 years, you will have seen a proliferation of codes of conduct and ethics from banks. When they had rules, they circumvented them, so...
I do not think that we should run away with the idea of codes of conduct because, if you look back over the past 10 or 20 years, you will have seen a proliferation of codes of conduct and ethics from banks. When they had rules, they circumvented them, so...
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Provision of water in Wales is a difficult matter. The geography is against us, but Glas Cymru has done a fine job.
There have been concerns about large profits in the industry, overcharging and a lack of investment, alongside high gearing and a low...
The hon. Gentleman makes a good point. Provision of water in Wales is a difficult matter. The geography is against us, but Glas Cymru has done a fine job.
There have been concerns about large profits in the industry, overcharging and a lack of investment, alongside high gearing and a low...
The Common Agricultural Policy reform package for 2014-20 is in its final stages of EU negotiation and overall political agreement was reached on the main elements in June 2013. The main reform provisions will be implemented in January 2015 and 2014 will be a transition year.
This paper sets out the reactions to the new reform package and emerging implementation decisions of the four countries of the UK and also of Ireland. It indicates where the key differences and common approaches are emerging and also considers the possible trajectory of future CAP reform.
The new agreement allows Member States and their regions an unprecedented, and welcome, amount of flexibility in terms of how they implement the CAP provisions to allow them to tailor the policy to their particular agricultural needs and approaches. This means that the implementation decisions taken within the UK and in Ireland have the potential to differ considerably, despite the intra-UK and international (UK/Irish) shared borders. The increasingly multi-national nature of food production, processing and retailing means that the differing approaches have the potential to significantly impact upon the farming and wider agri-food industries, particularly within neighbouring jurisdictions. It is now common place for food to be produced in one region/EU Member State, be processed in another and then marketed or sold in many others.
Overall, the administrations and farmers of the UK countries and Ireland believe that they have an acceptable reform package that they can work with. However, many environmental stakeholders have been disappointed that the ‘greening’ requirements linked to direct payments (Pillar 1) have been watered down from the original proposals and are now looking to rural development funds (Pillar 2) to bolster the CAP’s environmental credentials.
The governments in England, Wales, Northern Ireland and Ireland are currently consulting on their implementation approaches and Scotland will be consulting before the end of the year. In November 2013, the UK Government announced that CAP allocations within the UK would remain the same for the next funding period which allows all four countries to plan according to known resources. This allocation has been welcomed by all administrations except the Scottish Government which believes that Scotland should have received a greater share. It argues that its low payments per hectare reduce the UK average payment thereby enabling the UK to qualify for an additional “uplift” payment from the EU which Scottish farmers should receive. This payment is intended to even out direct payments across the EU Member States (known as external convergence).
From the initial proposals put forward, it is clear that very different, “bespoke” approaches are likely to emerge in all of the areas of flexibility permitted by the new reforms, especially in regard to: coupled support (direct payments linked to production), using a National Scheme to apply equivalent greening requirements, and modulation (transfer of funds from Pillar 1 to Pillar 2). There is some common ground in terms of proposing minimum claim sizes (at 5ha) and not implementing Small Farmers Schemes. What is not clear, however, is how far this flexibility in CAP implementation can be extended before it starts to undermine the ‘common’ policy approach and generates an uneven playing field in terms of Europe-wide competitiveness.
The Common Agricultural Policy reform package for 2014-20 is in its final stages of EU negotiation and overall political agreement was reached on the main elements in June 2013. The main reform provisions will be implemented in January 2015 and 2014 will be a transition year.
This paper sets...
My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to put on record this Government’s view on extremism and terrorism. I start by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Triesman, for his bold words of support, and I add my wholehearted endorsement to everything that he has said.
I begin with the Prime Minister’s words...
My Lords, I welcome the opportunity to put on record this Government’s view on extremism and terrorism. I start by thanking the noble Lord, Lord Triesman, for his bold words of support, and I add my wholehearted endorsement to everything that he has said.
I begin with the Prime Minister’s words...
This document, produced especially for Parliament Week 2013, examines the role that women have played in Parliament. It includes a statistics on the increasing number of women in Parliament, brief profiles of selected Women Members and finishes by examining key pieces of legislation that have been passed by women.
This document, produced especially for Parliament Week 2013, examines the role that women have played in Parliament. It includes a statistics on the increasing number of women in Parliament, brief profiles of selected Women Members and finishes by examining key pieces of legislation that have been passed by women.
I thank the Leader of the House for announcing next week’s business. I am looking forward to attending the sitting of the Youth Parliament next week. May I take this opportunity to remember the sacrifice of our armed forces as we approach Remembrance Sunday? We all wear our poppies with...
I thank the Leader of the House for announcing next week’s business. I am looking forward to attending the sitting of the Youth Parliament next week. May I take this opportunity to remember the sacrifice of our armed forces as we approach Remembrance Sunday? We all wear our poppies with...
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I intend to talk about taxation more widely a little later, because it plays a crucial role.
My understanding—I am sure that the Minister will correct me if I am wrong—is that the Bill is all about regulation because that is what is needed to...
The hon. Gentleman is absolutely right. I intend to talk about taxation more widely a little later, because it plays a crucial role.
My understanding—I am sure that the Minister will correct me if I am wrong—is that the Bill is all about regulation because that is what is needed to...
I would like to go further in the debate and mention some of the powers that I think the water industry needs. I will focus my remarks around the Water Bill, and the fact that as with any industry, resources are scarce. It by no means passes the public by...
I would like to go further in the debate and mention some of the powers that I think the water industry needs. I will focus my remarks around the Water Bill, and the fact that as with any industry, resources are scarce. It by no means passes the public by...
It is the classic. There is an old joke of which I saw a picture in a bar in Scotland: one farmer was pulling a cow’s horns, another farmer was pulling its tail and underneath was a lawyer milking the cow. However, the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, made a spirited...
It is the classic. There is an old joke of which I saw a picture in a bar in Scotland: one farmer was pulling a cow’s horns, another farmer was pulling its tail and underneath was a lawyer milking the cow. However, the noble Lord, Lord Beecham, made a spirited...
I welcome the Minister to his new role. With regards to the vaccine for cattle and cows, which he touched on at the beginning—the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale also asked about this issue—will the Minister take the opportunity to make it abundantly clear that if a vaccine is...
I welcome the Minister to his new role. With regards to the vaccine for cattle and cows, which he touched on at the beginning—the hon. Member for Morecambe and Lunesdale also asked about this issue—will the Minister take the opportunity to make it abundantly clear that if a vaccine is...
I want to return to the Agricultural Wages Board—a good example —and ask the Solicitor-General why he is so adamantly trying to stop the agricultural wages sector in Wales, which is important to us in Wales as a rural economy. I represent the wonderful rural constituency of Swansea East and—I...
I want to return to the Agricultural Wages Board—a good example —and ask the Solicitor-General why he is so adamantly trying to stop the agricultural wages sector in Wales, which is important to us in Wales as a rural economy. I represent the wonderful rural constituency of Swansea East and—I...
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, and to have my name on these amendments. At Second Reading, I mentioned that the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards was charged with looking at culture and standards. We found a culture that was rotten and standards...
My Lords, it is a pleasure to follow the noble Lord, Lord Brennan, and to have my name on these amendments. At Second Reading, I mentioned that the Parliamentary Commission on Banking Standards was charged with looking at culture and standards. We found a culture that was rotten and standards...
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