Speeches by Pakes.

“Phew! Thank you, Madam Deputy Speaker. [Laughter.] I am privileged to speak on Second Reading of a Bill that is of huge interest to my constituents and the country. After 14 years, the new Government have inherited record levels of illegal sewage dumping in our rivers, lakes and seas, an Environment Agency budget halve…”

“Peterborough lido is one of the jewels in the crown of our city. Just two years ago, we had a hydrotherapy pool and an indoor pool as well as the lido, but due to the reckless behaviour of the previous Conservative Administration, the hydrotherapy pool was bulldozed and the indoor pool was closed. The lido will be at r…”

“Can you provide data on that to us?”

“An actual breakdown at that level so we understand how many are farms with couples?”

“We have picked up one of my questions, but one of the great troubles with public discourse on this is that we have too many different sets of figures that roll against each other, so we are comparing a one-year retrospective with 30 years, and we are scrutinising the Treasury assumptions., You will forgive me, I think,…”

“But the general public in my constituency do not have that opportunity in their own areas, so it is a special relationship. So when we talk of 30 years and 75,000 figures, that is a really wide canvas for us to understand without understanding assumptions.”

“Can you provide data on that to us?”

“I will just come in on a couple of questions. First, Tom, I hope you hear how much respect, as a Committee, we have for you and farmers, which is why we are holding this inquiry. We want to be able to look at it and shine a light on it from different angles. All of us on the Committee have the commitment to do that, an…”

“Absolutely. I said that because when the CLA came to see me before the Budget, and this was on the table, the CLA position given to me was that no change whatsoever was necessary. Now we seem to be discussing it differently, where change could be necessary.”

“My question was: you accept some change could happen, but not the changes proposed?”

“If the Government were here, they would be saying this is about how all sectors need to contribute, and they have tried to do it fairly. They would say all sectors need to contribute, because they are trying to repair public services. Have you done any modelling? Do you have any data you could share for us about what t…”

“I was more interested in whether you have identified other routes that would raise money to put into public services in rural areas, if it was not this.”

“We have picked up one of my questions, but one of the great troubles with public discourse on this is that we have too many different sets of figures that roll against each other, so we are comparing a one-year retrospective with 30 years, and we are scrutinising the Treasury assumptions., You will forgive me, I think,…”

“But the general public in my constituency do not have that opportunity in their own areas, so it is a special relationship. So when we talk of 30 years and 75,000 figures, that is a really wide canvas for us to understand without understanding assumptions.”

“An actual breakdown at that level so we understand how many are farms with couples?”

“I will just come in on a couple of questions. First, Tom, I hope you hear how much respect, as a Committee, we have for you and farmers, which is why we are holding this inquiry. We want to be able to look at it and shine a light on it from different angles. All of us on the Committee have the commitment to do that, an…”

“Absolutely. I said that because when the CLA came to see me before the Budget, and this was on the table, the CLA position given to me was that no change whatsoever was necessary. Now we seem to be discussing it differently, where change could be necessary.”

“My question was: you accept some change could happen, but not the changes proposed?”

“If the Government were here, they would be saying this is about how all sectors need to contribute, and they have tried to do it fairly. They would say all sectors need to contribute, because they are trying to repair public services. Have you done any modelling? Do you have any data you could share for us about what t…”

“I was more interested in whether you have identified other routes that would raise money to put into public services in rural areas, if it was not this.”