Speeches by Dewhirst.

“Anyway, we will move on.”

“To take one particular example that Jayne wanted to raise, and I have heard this from others, pollack is a species that is on the rise, yet our fishermen are unable to land it and a lot of it is thrown back. Is that something you are looking at to try to address that problem specifically?”

“Moving to another species—monkfish—we have seen a big increase in the quota in Scotland and the North sea, which is contrary to some of the scientific advice. How do you explain that decision?”

“I will let Jayne get back to the specifics, but can I just ask a more general question about the spatial squeeze in our waters? The feedback I get from fishing organisations is that there is not joined up thinking across various Departments. We have pressures with renewables and the impact of those wind farms, we have …”

“That is completely at odds with the immediate change. You talk about the complexity. Surely, complexity means we should take a more measured approach to introducing this.”

“Is it right that a foreign-owned business that owns farmland does not have to pay this bill, but a family farm does?”

“Okay. To make just a slight change of tack, have you had any discussions with other arms of Government in relation to any US trade deal?”

“Is agriculture potentially part of any trade deal? Have you had any discussions in relation to agriculture and food products?”

“So in that sense you are not expecting agriculture to play any part in any trade deal with the US. Is that what you are saying?”

“If we are in a situation where you have Treasury imposing devastating tax changes, and you are not in discussions with other parts of Government about a potential US trade deal, do you think that DEFRA and the Secretary of State are doing a good job of representing the countryside at the top table of Government?”

“Let the voters decide.”

“Constant dialogue is probably pushing it. I think we had one meeting.”

“Thank you, Chair. That was a good segue to agricultural business property relief. There has been no consultation or affordability assessment done to this point, so would you commit to doing that before the autumn Budget?”

“I have twice invited Ministers to visit Bridlington district hospital with me to see its much-underutilised potential. In the light of the ongoing challenges faced by coastal and rural health services and the newly announced changes to integrated care boards, may I hope that it will be third time lucky, and extend that…”

“On the lack of engagement front that you have already mentioned, when the Windsor framework was put into place and there was the EU exit initially, there was, I think, a reasonable process. I was involved before I was elected, certainly on the Windsor framework. I had regular calls every week, with Cabinet Office-facil…”

“There is a challenge on BCPs specifically. They are commercial operations. Well, they should be commercial operations taken out of Government control. Is the regional model that you have suggested actually viable to operate a number of BCPs on a commercial footing?”

“I do not want to speak on behalf of the hon. Member for Blyth and Ashington (Ian Lavery), but he made his views very clear. I am sure that we will hear more in that tone as we go through the afternoon. It is really important that the Bill does not take us back to a place where growth is stifled. The Government talk abo…”

“I think the best solution would be proper privatisation of our railways, including nationalised services like Northern, which is constantly on strike. I would use Hull Trains, which serves a lot of constituents in my area and is very rarely, if at all, on strike, as an example of an excellent, private open-access firm.…”

“I wish to develop some of the detailed and eloquent arguments advanced by my hon. Friend the Member for Mid Buckinghamshire (Greg Smith), and to speak in particular about the amendments relating to part 4 of the Bill and the trade union movement. Before he leaves, let me thank the right hon. Member for Birmingham Hodge…”

“The Minister’s statement says, “This decision is about investing in long-term stability.” First, we had the body blow of the family farm tax, the reduction in BPS and the pulling of capital grants, and now we have the cancellation of SFI. How is any farming business expected to invest in the long term?”