Speeches by Dewhirst.

“Pembury remains a single point of failure. Can you assure the Committee that there was no other alternative that could have been used at that point? Was there not any other interconnected system that could have relieved the issue in Tunbridge Wells?”

“Can you explain to the layman why that change in water quality may have occurred so unexpectedly?”

“And it failed each time and therefore you reached a point where you had to escalate and inform customers?”

“And in terms of a timeline to be able to put people into a position of resilience?”

“In terms of the previous risk notice, we have already talked about your investment and plans. In hindsight, was there something that you could have done sooner to improve the Pembury site to avoid this incident?”

“The Government’s troubles Bill contains no provisions to prevent former members of the IRA or other paramilitary groups from sitting on their proposed legacy commission. Northern Ireland veterans and victims are rightly outraged, so will the Minister use this opportunity to assure the House that the Government will tab…”

“The Minister will be aware that in certain parts of the country the agricultural planning system has ground to a halt, preventing modernisation on farms, stifling investment and damaging British food security. I welcome today’s measures on biodiversity net gain, but may I ask him to go further by tackling Natural Engla…”

“The octopus haven’t got there yet. We are relying on you to stop them. On the subject of changing stocks and the impacts of changing water temperatures and so on, we have heard time and again from the industry that it feels that ICES’s advice is perhaps either incorrect or outdated. By the time it gets implemented, in …”

“Minister, as someone who is Bridlington-born, no doubt you will be keen to champion the lobster capital of Europe and encourage people to eat more crab and lobster, as well as calamari.”

“That is encouraging to hear because it is important to note that, if the Government were to take measures that discouraged certain types of farming and therefore reduced our domestic production, that would no doubt be replaced by imports produced at lower welfare standards than the ones we would expect in this country.…”

“We have the highest standards in the world.”

“On the solar point, reservoirs might be quite good sites to put more solar panels. There is some technology that might be worth looking at, if that crosses your desk. On the intensification of farming, it is important that we get some clarity here. Even the Henry Dimbleby report in 2020 on the food strategy recognised …”

“Good, because there needs to be guidance. DEFRA needs to be clearer with other Government Departments, down to local authorities, to say where they should not be acting in the way that they are. Frankly, we are in a situation in certain parts of the country where you cannot even get a new barn built due to biodiversity…”

“I can only make a plea that you listen to the farming community, the wider agricultural economy and the family businesses that operate in it, because there is a huge impact. It is very serious—people committing suicide. It is not funny. We need to do something to change that. That is my plea to you today. I will move o…”

“With that in mind, would you encourage colleagues at the Treasury to look at this again and nuance their policy?”

“There is an elephant in the room here, and I appreciate that this was not on your watch, but do you think, therefore, that this is not the right time to be making sweeping changes to inheritance tax regimes on farms and family businesses?”

“I am sure that it is complex. On another matter, you have talked about the huge uncertainty farmers have faced. You mentioned Brexit, climate change and other things. We did not mention covid and Ukraine.”

“Is it tomorrow?”

“There are two days left. Is it tomorrow or Thursday? You must know. Come on.”

“Are you confirming that it is coming out on Thursday?”