Speeches by Zeichner.

“It is the case that the previous schemes have been closed as well.”

“What we are doing is putting a huge amount of energy into introducing the fair dealing regulations, which we have the capability of doing, and it is really important that we concentrate our energy on that. That seems to me a very productive way forward on what we have been asked to do. There is no complacency here; I a…”

“We consider everything, but we are obviously working within a budgetary envelope, and we have essentially spent the money that we have available. In an ideal world, there are all kinds of things one would do, but we are operating within a constrained environment. There are a number of other schemes that are still avail…”

“As you will appreciate, this is a matter for the Treasury, and the Treasury Minister has been in constant dialogue over the last few months. There was a measure introduced in the Budget, and we stand by it.”

“I have not had any communication so far.”

“That is a very big question, and I will probably call on my colleagues to give you the more detailed answers. But the overall view is that we very much follow the scientific advice, which is a starting point. That 46% level is broadly similar to the level the year before. Basically, I rely very heavily on the advice fr…”

“I think you will find there have been a lot of debates in this place.”

“As I say, Chair, I believe we have robust supply chains, and I encourage people to have a reasoned dialogue, very much as we have had this morning, about the way forward for the future. The overwhelming message should be that this is a really important sector all the way through the food chain. It does a magnificent jo…”

“That is a very good question, which I will go away and see if we can find the answer to. I suspect, as in so many other things, that there is always more that we can do, but of course we are dependent to some extent on international advice.”

“To reprise the pollack answer, I will let Mike do pollack.”

“That is not the inference; it is a statement of fact—that in all businesses, there are risks. The question is the extent to which the state steps in. Obviously, with the common agricultural policy—”

“Record amounts of money are going in. The question is, who gets it? It is a distributional question. Let me be clear: I absolutely understand how difficult this is for people. It is a change, and perhaps we will get on to the wider question of the changes we have seen since our exit from the European Union. But there w…”

“Thank you for inviting us this morning. I am Daniel Zeichner. I am the Minister for Food Security and Rural Affairs.”

“You raise a very interesting issue, and I know your interest; indeed, I remember talking about this when in opposition. I am very happy to talk about the land use framework; in fact, I shall be meeting stakeholders later this afternoon to discuss it. The same principles apply in many ways, but the marine spatial priori…”

“It does not tell the whole story, because we are working, as I say, within the legislative framework that was agreed by Parliament under the Fisheries Act. Our task is to make those judgments.”

“It absolutely does, but it shows the complexity of the decisions that are being made. As a Minister, I can only follow the scientific advice we are being given.”

“May I look to you for that one, Mike?”

“Well, the first thing I would say is that I would not believe everything that is rumoured around an issue like this, because there is obviously lots and lots of speculation. Of course we have discussions, because the transitional period comes to an end in the middle of next year, but no decisions have been taken and th…”

“I do not agree that that puts food security at risk, but I do agree that, for individuals, it can be really, really hard. I am totally sympathetic to that, but it is important to stand back and look at the system as a whole, which is what the food security report looks at. I cannot quite remember the terminology from t…”

“My understanding from the previous Government’s approach is that it has never been fixed. It goes right back to the passage of the Agriculture Act, when we discussed in some detail in these Committee Rooms the tier 1 level agreements, which are effectively the SFI, the nature recovery element and the landscape recovery…”