Speeches by Dewhirst.

“You can argue about the vast majority but, quite frankly, you are not going to make them profitable by whacking them with a great inheritance tax bill, are you? Even if it is spread over 10 years, you just wipe out 10 years of profit, so they do not invest in new buildings, modernising the farm or new machinery. That a…”

“I would just implore you to keep pushing that, because we do not want to allow this deal to pull us back into—”

“To follow up on what Josh just said, we talk about the move to free-range eggs. That was a decision made by retailers in response to consumers and did not require the intervention of Government. We need to bear that in mind, because it is not necessarily the way forward. I just wanted to very briefly segue into precisi…”

“I have one more question on the future of farming in general. There is a lot of speculation that the Government and Downing Street want to reorganise Government Departments. Can you categorically tell the Committee today that there are no discussions that mean DEFRA will not exist in its current guise this time next ye…”

“Going forward, were there to be an incursion of a major notifiable disease—and fingers crossed that there is not—one would suggest that, looking back, having offered Dover only 20% of operational coverage, were that disease incursion to come via that port, it would look poorly on authorities at any future public inquir…”

“This current consultation followed one that was almost a year before, which was rejected under Mark Spencer when he was farming Minister. I worked on some of the industry roundtables on that. It was a very rare subject that managed to unite the entire food supply chain, from farmer to retailer, because farmers rightly …”

“Is it therefore DEFRA’s intention in the future, once you have ironed out these issues around data, to produce public performance data? It is not going to risk any security issues in relation to checks, but to give us and the public confidence that the BTOM is working, and that the risk-based percentages are being deli…”

“You would refute the FSA’s claim that there are gaps in the data?”

“Yes, I am talking about data related to the BTOM and the monitoring of the BTOM.”

“The FSA report into the BTOM in March stated, “The number of checks completed and issues identified under the BTOM cannot be accurately reported due to limitations in data availability and quality”. Conversely to that, we have had answers to parliamentary questions and the Minister himself has stated that data is not b…”

“In terms of the importance of Dover and the threat that we know of from illegal meat imports, the fact is that, as we have just discussed, these are often not personal imports in the sense that someone has accidentally brought a sausage into the country, but are organised crime operations. I know that we are going come…”

“Would you perhaps be willing to shed some light on why that communication broke down between Dover Port Health Authority and DEFRA?”

“The £3.1 million for the coming financial year offers them 20% operational coverage. Is 20% sufficient?”

“Would you accept that, going forward, that is not really the best way to operate, working with them in partnership? That money is paying for human resource to stop things at the border. If they do not have that guarantee of funding in the future, they do not know how many staff they can employ, et cetera, and what thei…”

“We have talked specifically about Dover. My first question is in relation to the funding of the port health authority. Why did that funding settlement come so late in the day and not allow Dover to prepare ahead of the new financial year?”

“Driving around my beautiful constituency, it is hard to tell that the area played such a pivotal role in the second world war. Only one active military base remains on the site of the old RAF Driffield at Kelleythorpe, which is now used by cadets and occasionally for other training. Back in the 1940s, the countryside o…”

“The Minister has told the House that the Government would not impose any new costs on the ceramics industry, but we know that they are going to increase carbon taxes, which will kill off energy-intensive industries. Does she not see that this is a totally incoherent policy position?”

“In my constituency, 115 pubs and five breweries contribute £40 million to the local economy and support 1,500 jobs. As highlighted by the British Beer and Pub Association, the sector faces a disproportionate business rates burden, with pubs paying a higher share relative to their turnover, so will the Government commit…”

“At the London marathon last weekend, my constituent Angus Leckonby from Octon near Driffield broke not one but two world records: he became the youngest and fastest man with an intellectual disability to complete a marathon—and he raised £11,000 for the Special Olympics in doing so. Will the Leader of the House join me…”

“6. What steps he is taking to support the hospitality industry.”