Speeches by Reynolds.

“Yes, there are many different meetings across Government on the middle east response, which goes to some of the things you are talking about. If the Government did a broader resilience piece, that would sit in the Cabinet Office. The Cabinet Office plans for shocks that could happen to different systems in the future. …”

“We have Emma here, who is the expert. Let me just say, by way of opening, that the negotiations are going well. We obviously cannot provide you with a running commentary on the details, but we are in close touch with the NFU and other stakeholders, because we know that there are concerns on the timing of entry into for…”

“With regard to South East Water, again just to explain the background before I come to your question, obviously I am very disappointed that it has repeatedly failed in its statutory duty—and it is a water-only company—to provide drinking water to its residents. We have had the case late last year, we have had the case …”

“With permission, I will make a statement on the Government’s farming road map, which the Farming Minister—my hon. Friend the Member for Portsmouth South (Stephen Morgan)—and I have published today. This 25-year farming road map is the first ever long-term plan for farming in this country, giving farmers the clarity and…”

“I hope to give the hon. Gentleman some brief answers, but I would be very happy to have a discussion with him after the debate, because he has put forward a lot of different questions. Food production is the primary role of farmers, but in the road map we also talk about the transition to more sustainable farming and r…”

“That is precisely why window 1 will be open next week to small farms and those farms without an existing agreement. It is also why we have capped the agreement level per year to £100,000. We want smaller farms to benefit from the SFI.”

“As the hon. Lady knows, I am always happy to appear before her Committee. There is an ongoing discussion with the EU about implementation timelines. I cannot give her a running commentary, but I can say that we are working closely with the National Farmers’ Union about the implementation timelines. We want a smooth tra…”

“I thank the right hon. Gentleman for marking my homework, and I look forward to having it marked in even more detail when I appear before his Committee. There is a separate document in which we have published our response thematically to the 57 recommendations of Baroness Batters’ profitability review. We are already w…”

“May I take this opportunity to thank my hon. Friend for all the work he did as Farming Minister? Indeed, some of his fingerprints are on the road map, so I want to thank him for that. He is right in what he says about food security and about innovation being central to it. That is why I announced extra funding of £53 m…”

“I think my hon. Friend is asking about the expiring agreements, because there are obviously many thousands coming to an end this year. As I have said in DEFRA questions previously, it is the Department’s intention that those whose agreements expire this year will be able to apply in window 2 of the SFI, which will star…”

“I agree with the intent of the hon. Lady’s question, which is that we need a focus on food production and to ensure that our farming sector is more resilient to global shocks, such as the kind she spoke about. That is why we are doing serious work on how we can help farmers to use fertiliser more efficiently and move a…”

“I could not agree more. We have to look at the agrifood sector overall. It is a huge part of our economy, employing 4.1 million people, and its gross value added is equivalent to the automotive sector. My hon. Friend is right that there has been a tendency to underestimate the value of farming. We have to look at it in…”

“The extreme weather conditions we are facing at the moment bring into sharp relief the need for the sector to have access to better sources of water. I thank my hon. Friend for working closely with my hon. Friend the Under-Secretary on these issues and look forward to hearing more about the initiatives in my hon. Frien…”

“Farmers face lots of different challenges, one of which is volatile global commodity prices, along with some of things my hon. Friend mentioned. On public procurement, we are working to establish an accurate baseline of what percentage of the public sector gives contracts to our farmers. We are also looking at what mor…”

“I thank my hon. Friend for her comments. We do have capital grants to help farmers procure the kind of equipment she mentioned.”

“I recently visited the Balmoral agricultural show with members of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Committee, and the Northern Ireland Affairs Committee was there too. We had a good old chinwag. I also met Minister Muir and the Ulster Farmers’ Union. We are engaging closely with stakeholders in Northern Ireland.…”

“Oh, gosh, how do I follow that? Well, the first thing to say is that that the shadow Secretary of State is not in charge of reshuffles on the Government side of the House. Let me outline where I do agree with the shadow Secretary of State. I agree that DEFRA is a really important economic Department of Government, and …”

“And Conservative Governments. For too long, farmers have been asked to navigate profound change without a clear sense of the Government’s plan for the future. The pressures of fast-moving technological change, geopolitical instability, volatile global markets and climate change are real. I have met farmers across Engla…”

“Can I gently remind the right hon. and learned Gentleman of the previous Administration’s Brexit deal and the move away from basic payments to environmental land management schemes? The shift that he is talking about, which has led us to have to stress that food production is the primary focus of farming, was precisely…”

“As we set out in our land use framework, our intention in working with the sector is to ensure that we have more productive and profitable farms and multifunctional land use so that we maintain, if not increase, food production levels, alongside the land use changes that we need to secure a sustainable farming transiti…”