Speeches by Dewhirst.

“I would like to explore that complex regulatory environment a little bit more. How would you assess the current effectiveness of your working relationship with those other regulators, such as the Environment Agency, Drinking Water Inspectorate, or Natural Resources Wales?”

“Thank you. Lastly for now on this, you say you want to make the water industry national environment programme more transparent. Can you go a little bit further into that? How do you intend to make that happen and what you want to see?”

“If you had a blank piece of paper and you were to start this all over again, what would you change in terms of the regulators, the regulatory environment or the legislation under which you are working?”

“It is a fascinating and interesting subject area and the Environment Agency’s relationship with other agencies in this space is also something that I have no doubt we will be exploring in due course. The structures of the water companies themselves are complex. Does that hinder your work as a regulator? Would there be …”

“Thank you. Lastly for now on this, you say you want to make the water industry national environment programme more transparent. Can you go a little bit further into that? How do you intend to make that happen and what you want to see?”

“I would like to explore that complex regulatory environment a little bit more. How would you assess the current effectiveness of your working relationship with those other regulators, such as the Environment Agency, Drinking Water Inspectorate, or Natural Resources Wales?”

“Would you be willing to alter your course on this?”

“I absolutely agree, Secretary of State, that listening is very important, but you are in a privileged position to be able to listen and then do something about it. Let’s go back to the beginning of this policy change on property relief. Was this an idea that you presented to the Treasury, or was it something that the T…”

“I will try and rattle through this, Chair. I think we would all agree that this area is very important. I will start off with the border target operating model. Can I get your assessment on the implementation of that, particularly around the operations at Sevington?”

“Is it your impression that things are improving? I have heard various anecdotal stories about not just livestock, but plants, flowers and so on.”

“I think we had the same issue in reverse when the implementation checks came in on the EU side. We had a rocky few months, but it smoothed out in time. I will move on to an area on which I have spent the last two-plus years lobbying the previous Government, around biosecurity on our borders and organised crime, includi…”

“Are they satisfied with the allocation for this year?”

“It is crucial because, as you say, it is countries with African swine flu that are not able to export their meat products at the moment that are being exploited, and this meat is coming into the country. I appreciate that you cannot stop every vehicle without bringing the whole thing to a halt, but anything we can do t…”

“Meat and dairy do not make you short, fat and sick.”

“There was the recent announcement at COP about the 81% reduction in emissions by 2035. The Climate Change Committee said that can be achieved only with a significant reduction in the production of meat and dairy. Has that been taken into account, and is it now part of the long-term food security plan to see a reduction…”

“I will rephrase that. What representations have you made on behalf of farming to the Treasury, in relation to these decisions?”

“T6. The teachers and staff at Hornsea school and language college do a fantastic job for their 1,300 pupils, including 90 with SEND, but they do so in crumbling buildings with leaking roofs. With the news in last week’s Budget that this Government will continue the Conservative’s school rebuilding programme, will the S…”

“The Minister implied earlier that farmers in my constituency of Bridlington and The Wolds support this measure. I can categorically tell him that they do not; they are shattered by this announcement. The impact on my community will be devastating. I ask the Minister today to do the right thing and withdraw these plans.”

“indicated assent.”

“The Secretary of State mentioned the importance of drainage in reducing incidents of pollution caused by flooding. Will he therefore commit today, while we await the outcome of the commission, to distributing the £75 million allocated by the previous Government to internal drainage boards, so that farmers in my constit…”